MISHA MATTERS

The Alumni crew of CFC does filmmaking right.  

Taylor Belle Puterman as June

Misha is the second short film in less than a month that focuses on a mother and daughter relationship where one of the two becomes ill and the powers that start to wonder.   Directed by Andrew Jeffrey and screening at this year’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival, Misha, played by Daiva Johnston, is worried for her daughter June, played by Taylor Belle Puterman, who is has been stricken with an illness.  It has been five days since June last attended school.  The school officials have been notified the state who has brought this to the attention of the Bureau of Order and Safety.  Two agents Kay, played by Jamillah Ross, and Whitford, played by Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, are sent to Misha’s house to do a further investigation into the sickness.  Misha is worried that they are not only there to determine what type of sickness June has but whether or not there is evidence in the house that they are witches.

You can tell that this is a polished, smooth and crisp film that does not make you question the amount of budget that they had for the film.  Director Andrew Jeffrey, producer Lindsay Blair Goeldner and editor Rick Bartnam are part of the alumni of the Cineplex Film Program offered at the Canadian Film Center in which they were taught great filmmaking habits which you can tell in this film.  Even though this is a short film, Misha stands out and sets the mood and the atmosphere correctly for the audience to engage in the mere seconds that the film crew has to offer.  We become all invested in the characters in the film which is not an easy task.  The film was made pre-COVID-19 times but the film can scare the wits out of you as you wonder if this is the type of behaviour and activity the government could conduct upon us during these troubling times.  You just never know right?  Intentional or not, kudos to the filmmakers for making the audience think this way.