Schism Review
Schism is a 2020 short film from Writer/Directors Christopher Holland and Osvaldo Ramirez, starring Richard Gallardo Ozuna and Dov Hassan. It had its world premiere at the 2020 Arizona Underground Film Festival.
Schism is a film that demands to be viewed more than once and that is a good thing. It is a film that can best described as an experimental allegorical fable with an undertone of an acid western. It is a short film that hooks you right from the beginning with solid acting and clever camerawork. In fact, throughout my viewing, I had several “good one,” moments with the framing and very smart camera movement.
Another highlight of this piece is the very solid cinematography courtesy of Nikolas Welchel. Having no fear of mixing strong colors but also knowing when to go with a more muted color scheme provides a nice source of contrast throughout the viewing experience.
The last thing I’d love to touch on is the writing of the film. While at first it may seem as if we are going down one path, the film quickly subverts the expectation of where we will end up. I do not wish to spoil the ending here but as you finish the short and look back on everything that came before it what you are left with is a powerful allegory with meticulously crafted visual elements that fit in with the purpose of the story perfectly.
If I was going to be critical of only one aspect of the piece it would be in the department of sound mixing. I by no means have a theater level sound system here in my home so watching this from a proper auditorium might be completely different. However, I did find that some of the audio to be a bit soft in some parts and some of the bigger moments could be punched up more to add to the impact of the moment.
With that being said I highly recommend giving Schism a look, the film is currently on a festival run, but when it is available I will be updating the post with the final short film. It is dripping with well-paced atmosphere and I am super excited to see what Christopher Holland and Osvaldo Ramirez will deliver us next.
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Richard one of best artists who I know him and I worked with him and I learned from Richard a lot and still we’re together Richard is super talented and amazing artist and hard working,
That is amazing!
What an awesome and detailed review of Schism! This is my husbands first leading role and I’m so proud of his natural talent and dedication to this short film. The cast & crew were a great fit & with so many talented people on board, it was destined to come together as spectacular as it has! We wait with great anticipation for upcoming projects from Christopher Holland & Ozvaldo Ramirez!
Thank you so much for the kind words, it was a pleasure to watch and likewise here for more work from Chris and Ozvaldo!
*Osvaldo
Mr. Hess,
Thank you so much for this thoughtful and amazing review! I appreciate you recommending Schism as a film worth watching. Thank you for giving Schism exposure through your review, it’s a wonderful opportunity for the cast and crew! Lastly, thank you crew and everyone involved with the process of the film. You all deserve this!
It is my complete pleasure and priviledge to be able to do so. A great review comes from a great film and you made my job easy here. I can not wait to continue keeping in touch and seeing more work that you produce in the future!