Our stunning 11 1/2″ 24K custom gold statuette is manufactured by R.S. Owens, the same company that manufactures the Oscar. The winner of our Best Short Film category will receive this award at no cost to them, while winners in other categories will be given the option to acquire it. Additional awards and prizes may be Read More ...
Title: The Last Train
Runtime: 10 min
Country: South Africa
Director: Lodi Paul Inga
Placement: Honorable Mention
Competition: June, 2023
Synopsis: A musician who had come from an uninspiring performance in an empty pub found himself late one evening on the last train to get to his home. His hopes of a peaceful late train ride after a long day are suddenly threatened by a passenger who asks him to play his guitar so he can accompany him with his mbira for an impromptu duet. At the stranger’s insistence, the musician is forced to give in by playing his guitar composition, hoping to discourage the stranger with an unknown tune. To his surprise, the stranger began to accompany him on the spot, thus turning an improvised duet into a coherent instrumental song. However, the remainder of the passengers on the late train meet this magical moment with indifference, except for one young passenger who liked the music so much that she began to dance to the melody. What the musician initially saw as a means to silence the overly insistent stranger became a lifelong lesson on using one’s talent to bring positivity to one person at a time.
