Name: 81
Genre: Short
Duration: 28 min
Rating: 7.6
Cast: Philippe Missischi, Robert Hickey, Paula McFetridge

An excellent and very funny film about the absurdities of prejudice

Very funny. Had to watch this film as part of thesis research, and I enjoyed its dry take on the absurdities of people's small mindedness on bigotry. It takes the format of a mockumentary, with a French news team covering the events surrounding the hunger strikes in 1981 in Northern Ireland.

A Catholic and a Protestant family, almost identical in every respect and living only a few yards from each other on the same street, are interviewed about their feelings on the hunger strikers. Hand-held cameras and a raw feel help to make this feel very authentic even while you are laughing at the obvious jokes, visual and otherwise.

Intercut with real news footage of the time, the film also makes a serious point about the dangers of passing on personal prejudices through generations without ever looking outside your own environment.

Highly recommended.

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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