It looks like things are slowing down a little on the interwebs regarding shortfilms. I’ll do my best to scavenge for these gems as much as possible, though I am looking forward to taking another break (which probably won’t be one anyway since I’ll likely be using it to write ? …the cycle never ends).
Independent filmmaker, martial artist and actor Caio Fontes has something truly special in the making this year with his Brazil-based indie platform, Colete Films. If you’ve seen their most recent action short, Stray, you could deem it as a worthy concept for something much larger in scale, and if I may say so myself, it is. And I personally hope this concept lends itself to something of a feature in due time.For now though, it’s all about the love of the craft, as is the nature of independent filmmaking with small budgets and a handful of resources to help make an idea work. That idea now exists in the form of the form of the upcoming prequel shortfilm, Alpha, which has a teaser as of early last month, along with a full trailer this week which you can check out below ahead of its online release next month. And if you haven’t seen Stray, I highly recommend clicking here to view it.
Personally, I do not know enough about the current state of Brazil’s film scene. However, I am aware that as far as the action films go, the genre does tend to flourish in some parts of the world more than others. Such was the case for Brazil-based independent filmmaker, actor and Filipino Martial Arts practioner Caio Fontes whose own realization of this came almost a year ago as he stepped away from Business Development before beginning his own efforts on YouTube to gain recognition as an action filmmaker, and more importantly, to join the fray among a select handful of other action filmmakers and change the trend. And so it went as of last month, with the latest release of his latest online shortfilm, Stray.
Shot between January and February on a very low budget with little time, Stray eases itself into a setting that features Fontes as a character who generally lives what appears to be the nice quiet solo life in the woods, although he owns a small handgun, which could generally mean anything. However, just five minutes in, we pretty much see why, as we are introduced to a small horde of men led by an armed tracker, played by Andre Pinaud, as they descend unto the man’s home, armed to the teeth with the obvious intent to do some serious bodily harm.
Action fans have seen this set up before, and it largely depends on the one behind the camera; In this instance, we get a full-fledged dramatic action gem inspired by a director who has clearly seen his fair share of films to have a good and progressively developing sense of what works. To top it off, purely and plainly, the gritty action speaks for itself, enhancing a lot of the the drama seen here, highlit by some intense physical acting and action, along with some seriously cool ink. And by the last shot, you’re given a character whose layers have just been peeled so far back, you’re probably gonna wish there was a feature film.
All in all, you can chalk this one up as another really cool piece of independent action. It’s not for everyone, but for those who know where the passion for film and stuntwork lies, just so you know, a good amount of it lies here in the embed below for Fontes‘s channel where you can also subscribe