Make a Film in Thirty Seconds. Include a Mop.

Then there is Short Cut, for people who are short on time. In 2023 the call was for a thirty-second film. It had to include a firefighter. It had to include a mop, or a broom if the production preferred. It had to include one required line of dialogue. Students wrote, shot and edited everything themselves.

I have produced exactly one film, a video of the eldest's first steps, in 2011, which is mostly my thumb. The constraints would have helped. Nobody told me I needed a firefighter.

The 2023 Best Short Cut Film went to a Lycée student for a film called Un rêve balayé. Balayé means swept. A swept-away dream, or a dream that has been dealt with by a broom. I have not seen it and won't guess at the plot, but a filmmaker who can get a pun into a title in thirty seconds of total running time has a future.

The ingredients change every year. By 2026 Short Cut had stretched to between 30 seconds and a minute, and the required elements were a shot reverse shot, lockers and a secret. Teachers are invited too.

The middle one is in seventh grade and therefore eligible. He read the 2026 list at breakfast and announced he would enter. We have no lockers. He said the garage has shelves, which are basically lockers lying down. He asked whether he could cast the dog as the secret. I said the dog has no secrets. The dog has been in this family eleven years and has told us everything.

Shot reverse shot, he explained, is when two people talk and the camera goes back and forth. He demonstrated with the youngest and a cereal box. The youngest wanted to know who the secret was. He said that was the secret.

The festival's submission deadline came and went in April. The film is still in development. I'm told it needs a firefighter.