Watch Visually Poetic Short Film 'April' (The Inside Of A Tree As Refuge, Escape, Wisdom)
From Short Film ‘April’

As announced 2 weeks ago, we’re rebooting the S&A “Short Shout!” series – something we used to do with regularity previously, in which we highlight a short film every week, that speaks to this blog’s specific interests, and that we deem worth seeing. So please send in your short films if they’re online and public, whether old films or new films; we’ll take a look and consider them for this series. Email obensont@gmail.com with a link to the film, or database it can be download from. Include a synopsis and other information you think is relevant to the appreciation of the film.

For films shared since the “Short Shout!” series reboot, click here to watch them all.

Today’s entry is a visually poetic film from director Alan Spearman, titled “April.”

The story: Faith Jackson’s smile obscures the pain of the past and her fear of bullets flying past her mother’s apartment in the Soulsville neighborhood of Memphis. But Faith has a refuge: A magnolia tree that she has named April gives her comfort. She enters April through a hole in the trunk and waters her and checks her heartbeat. Nearby, Hattie Mae is a fading echo of the young girl. The ailing older woman looks back and dreams of youth and health. She places handwritten messages on a giant battered tree stump in her front yard telling those who pass to live now.

Watch the 5-minute “April” below: