Awesome Short Films from Jameson First Shot

I first heard about "The Smile Man" from a post in the Movies community on Google+.  The plot is notably contrived, but it's funny and it's compelling.  Its layers of meaning make it more profound than an ordinary comedy:

• Contrivance of Western society around smiling, for instance, when having your picture taken
• Endowment of smiling as a cure-all for a host of ails or distemper, which we see as inspirational quotes on social media
• Cultural prerequisite of smiling among Filipinos, which a friend was tacitly reminding me of, when she kept encouraging me to smile more

Anton Lanshakov is a graduate of the Humanitarian Institute of Television & Radio Broadcasting in Moscow. Currently working as a writer, director and producer his winning script, THE SMILE MAN focuses on a gentleman dealing with the consequences of a car accident, which has left him with a spinal injury that means he has a permanent smile on his face.  [Film notes, here and below, are from Jameson First Shot]

There are two more in this series.  "Love's Routine" queries us on that perennial theme of people vis-a-vis machines.  When is practical usefulness taken too far, when is love no longer quite love, and what happens to machine in the absence (nay, loss) of people?

Shirlyn Wong from New York is an M.F.A. graduate film candidate from New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia. During her film school career she has won awards from Singapore Short Film Awards and First Run Film Festival. Her script, LOVE’S ROUTINE is a dark comedy about a discordant elderly couple, who ultimately prove that love is greater than flesh and blood.

Finally, "Saving Norman" is about an animal therapist, who uses her ingenuity to save an ailing parrot by having its long-despondent owner work through, psychologically, a demoralizing scratch in a championship ping-pong match.

Hanneke Schutte is a writer/director from Johannesburg. Having previously had her work shown at Durban International Film Festival, her winning script, SAVING NORMAN tells the story of a hypochondriac ex-ping pong player who never got over missing a major tournament final because of a cold.

I love this quote, said by Chen Ho Yong, who was the de facto champion in that ill-fated non-match in 1989:

Medal's ruined my life, you know.  It was cursed.  Six months after I won, my wife left me, because I became too much big-headed.  I gained 40 kilograms. Blew all my money on dog races.  I ate dog food for three years, you know.  

So freaking funny!