Cashback (2004)

Director:

Sean Ellis

Writer:

Sean Ellis (writer)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

You give 8 hours...They give you money.

Plot:

Ben is an art college student in London, whose imagination runs wild as he works the late-night shift at the local supermarket. What do he and his colleagues do to pass the long, endless hours of the night?

Plot Keywords:

Time | Late Night | Work | Art Student | Supermarket

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins

Cast

Sean Biggerstaff	...	Ben
Emilia Fox	...	Sharon
Stuart Goodwin	...	Jenkins
Michael Dixon	...	Barry
Michael Lambourne	...	Matt
Hatti Riemer	...	Old Lady
Frank Hesketh	...	Young Ben
Irene Bagach	...	Beautiful Girl
Christine Fuller	...	Frozen Girl 2
Celesta Hodge	...	Deer Girl
Kinvara Balfour	...	Shampoo Girl 1
Cherie Nichole	...	Shampoo Girl 2 (as Cherie Nichole Bradley)
Hayley-Marie Coppin	...	Swedish Student
Daphne Guinness	...	Checkout Counter Woman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roddy Adair	...	Sainsbury's Islington Footballer
Nadia Alkhashab	...	Frozen Girl in Sainsbury's
Katie Ball	...	Art Class Girl
Henrietta Bass	...	Ben's Mother
Lene Bausager	...	Woman with Trolley
Gary Beeson	...	Young Sean
Michelle Bentley	...	Nightclub Girl
Samantha Bloom	...	Mrs. Booth
Jay Bowen	...	Steve Jenkins
Tree Carr	...	Girl
Natalie Denning	...	Busty Customer
Bianca Drakes	...	Stripper
Gayle Dudley	...	Natalie's Mother
Erica Ellis	...	Canteen Lady
Kubrick Ellis	...	Dog
Stan Ellis	...	Art Class Teacher
Shaun Evans	...	Sean Higgins
Kenneth Fahy	...	Art Class Life Model
Katrine Falkenberg	...	Katrine at the Party
Emilia Fenton	...	Tanya
Nick Hancock	...	Rory Davies
Keeley Hazell	...	Frozen Girl in Sainsbury's
Matthew Hodgson	...	Barman
Lucy Holt	...	Lucy at Proud Galleries
Hayden Jones	...	Jim the Bouncer
Winnie Li	...	Betting Employee
Nelly Lyster-Smith	...	Young Natalie
Gary McNulty	...	Sainsbury's Islington Footballe
Katarina Olsson	...	Sean's Mother
Marc Pickering	...	Brian
Wayne Ploughman	...	Sainsbury's Islington Footballe
Nia Roberts	...	Woman at the Till
Michelle Ryan	...	Suzy
James Smith	...	Sainsbury's Islington Footballer
Janine-May Tinsley	...	Adult Natalie
Graham Ward	...	Man with Dog
Howard Ward	...	Football Referee
Lee Wilson	...	Sainsbury's Islington Footballe

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:18

Filming Locations:

Sainsbury's, Whitechapel, London, England, UK

Company:

Left Turn Films

Trivia:

There was no budget for wardrobe so the main cast borrowed uniforms from the store and shoppers wore their own clothes.

Movie Connections:

Version of Cashback (2006)

Soundtrack:

Ben's Theme

Lots of nudity and angst--but is it art?

CASHBACK was nominated for the 2006 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, losing to SIX SHOOTER. While the film had an interesting style and was filled with angst, I wonder if it was so artistic or interesting to merit the nomination. While I have not seen all the other films it competed against, I felt that perhaps it was an odd choice because on one level it might be seen as an artistic film but on the other it really just looked like a young film student trying to make a pornographic and offensive film that could be considered mainstream. The film is crammed with full-frontal nudity of some very beautiful women, though the scenes are not necessarily of a sexual nature (i.e., they are not engaging in sex acts). However, there are more up close crotch shots than I would have expected for this category and the crude sexual references (such as the sausage and shampoo scenes) just made the film seem rather gross in spots. Keeping the nudity and dropping the shampoo/sausage scenes would have greatly improved the film and given the project a greater sense of artistry--not smut.

Perhaps I am just a prude, but I was left feeling quite mixed about the film. It was interesting but seemed very gratuitous as well--like a film made by a few teens whose parents were away for the weekend.

By the way, if they DID want to make a mainstream film, having the movie star a guy named "Biggerstaff" didn't help their cause.