Oscar Nominated 'Feeling Through' Bottles Lightning

There’s something refreshing about a short film that takes its time. Cooler than jumbo shrimp with freezer burn… because it’s an oxymoron, folks *sigh*. Feeling Through (2020) gets a lot done in 18 minutes. The story follows Tereek (Steven Prescod), a young man who encounters a deafblind stranger in Artie, and grapples with whose needs to place first.  Artie is played by Robert Tarango, the very first deafblind man to star in any movie. Produced in partnership with Hellen Keller Servies and showcased by Omeleto, the film tells such a simple story in an intricate way, a much better combo than its converse. 

The editing and story are the stand-out elements here. The acting is scarce, and this is often a good thing in a short film context; too many shorts attempt to tell character-driven stories without realizing how constraining 10 or 20 minutes really can be. Feeling Through leans heavily on plot, and writer/director Doug Roland was wise to do so. The piece earned him and his production an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. And my money says that the editing was a big part of the reason why. Dubbed-on-screen text bubbles are fairly commonplace nowadays. It can be a great touch if done well, a confident way to incorporate the modern world instead of dancing around it. Communication is an obstacle given Artie’s condition, and so the film is pressed to concoct creative ways to foster interaction, rendering subtitles a useful tool. Parsimonious use of delicate techniques like these is a creation of editing, and if we can learn anything from Tereek, it’s not to take things like this for granted.

Making movies, and short films especially can feel like trying to hit a piñata in a dark room. You’re certain that greatness lies within your idea, somewhere. You just need to find it. And in the case of Feeling Through, with an idea like this one, Roland was swinging a mace. The tension is built in - I can’t communicate with strangers as is - dock me two major senses? Forget it . The film postures smaller rising actions within the story arc, a good way to keep the viewer interested while building the relationship between two outsiders. It is a cold rainy night in any given northern city, so we know the cinematography can’t be expected to carry this thing. No breathtaking frames or sophisticated set design can come to the rescue. The acting is mostly nonvisual and a third of it happens on a bus stop bench. I visualize a breakfast - and if there isn’t much syrup, they better be damn good pancakes. Tereek is homeless, continuously assisting a man he doesn’t know and being seemingly punished for doing so. He makes a purchase for the man in a bodega. He decides to pocket some of the change belonging to Artie and is seen doing so by the cashier. When you can write in compelling moments like these, perfuse dialogue and a big soundscape aren’t missed. 

The message goes something like ‘there’s always somebody who has it worse’, or ‘don’t be so enveloped in what it is that you’re missing, but focus on all that you have’.  It really isn’t anything new in that regard. But what Feeling Through does is capture and package for us an experience. It is the watching of the film that is to be savored, not its metabolization. That’s not to say that there is no aftertaste - most of us have it better than Tereek and Artie. Most of us aren’t homeless. Most of us can see and hear. So given the message, we’re certainly assigned a bit of introspection homework after this one. The emotion on Tereek’s face, the sympathy felt for his reluctance, the gratitude on Artie’s behalf - these things are why you should watch Feeling Through. To feel as though you went through it.