Of the five live action shorts competing at the Oscars this year, Asad is, in my view, the best. Dealing with the lifestyle of a young boy living on the Somali coast, it feels sincere and non- didactic.
The titular character, being too young and small to join the teenage boys in their pirating endeavors, is instead directed to a life as a fisherman, a poor and unappealing profession. He is quick-witted and instantly likable, which is a must in a short film. The macabre in the film is dealt with in such an offhand manner that it easy to overlook the dire circumstances the characters are in. In a scene when Asad is on a fishing trip and discovers a yacht, which was the site of a pirate raid gone wrong, leaving both foreigners and teenagers from his village dead, he is unfazed by the bodies, and is merely irate that the older boys performed so poorly.
Asad is well-made, both thoughtful and enjoyable, and has great music vaguely reminiscent of the score of The Third Man. If you only see one short this year, it should be this one.
