Shot on iPhone. Remember that meme? ‘Caring is Sharing’ is a short film literally shot on an iPhone X in pretty much a one take fashion by London, UK based filmmaker Laura D’Asta. The film is all about what the title says, sharing is caring. Laura lives right above her neighbour and uses a makeshift rope and bucket to share some vegetable items by slowly drawing down the bucket for her neighbour to receive the items.
What is the goal behind this short film? I believe it is about a moment in time during the global pandemic. With COVID-19 spreading like wildfire since the beginning of the new decade in 2020, it has drastically changed the lives all over the world on how we interact with each other. With fears and anxiety looming over the corona virus and wondering whether our lives will ever return to a normal state that we once lived prior to 2020.
It is a straightforward film which sums up where we are in todays pandemic. So, let’s talk about the pandemic and how it all started. The COVID-19 virus allegedly originated in Wuhan, China around January 2020, and it took a couple of months to spread exponentially throughout the world. By the time March 2020 came around, the world was in complete lockdown. Stay-at-home orders were issued. Masks became a phenomenon and pretty much a requirement everywhere you go (depending on location). And everyone had to follow the governments direction on what to do to stay safe for the next little while…and we are still at the phase of recovery.
It is no doubt that was a lot of controversy behind the virus. Many are divided by the pandemic and wonder if this was an elaborate scheme or conspiracy by a higher group forcing them to comply. Vaccines were created to help combat the virus, and there is no doubt a group of anti-vaxxers that refuse to follow the mandate to get vaccinated. Then on the other side, infection reports were growing exponentially in multiple waves causing people to work from home, schools closing down, and even many losing their jobs. But worst of all, there are those who were actually hospitalized and some that have died as a result of the corona virus.
2020 was a crazy year to see all this happen. There had to be a finger pointed at someone to blame for all this uncontrollable chaos, and no doubt racism towards the Asian community became rampant because of the reports originating from China. The #StopAsianHate movement started in 2021 when violence towards Asian Americans erupted as a hate crime, possibly linked to the corona virus outbreak. It was such a sad time for Asians, but also for everyone else who were affected by this whole ordeal.
There is humanity in the light of this pandemic. The immense gratitude of the health care professionals and front-line workers coming together to support those who were affected by the virus. There were 7pm acknowledgements given out at the front porch and social media to let them know how much the front-line workers meant for the community to step up in this trying time. It is without a doubt they are the heroes for stepping up and working those long hours to fight the good fight.
The community also came together to help each other out. Neighbours offering help to seniors to get groceries or other important items who are at higher risk of going into the public areas on their own. Fundraiser campaigns are created to help support people who are down on their luck in their finances and health. The good side of people exists and it served as a great reminder to take a step back from everything and reflect on what we need to focus on right now. Health and safety.
‘Caring is Sharing’ is the short film that provides that example. Where the neighbour comes up with creative ways to communicate with each other, even if it is by rope to send items down from one another. It is a film time capsule to look back on the dire times we had during the pandemic, but looking at it from a positive lens that there was still good coming out of this situation. Sometimes we might have too many things on the go, or too many things for that matter. But what we needed at times is a reminder of the idea of socializing and communication, and finding creative ways to stay in touch with one another.
by: Trevor Brooks
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.