A young couple driving on an isolated road knock over a pedestrian. Their first reaction to assist the man is rapidly rejected because the two lovers have reasons to hide their affair. So the road accident becomes a real murder…

Sometimes a good story needs to be told in the most simplistic way to be well appreciated. Andrey Zagidullin did just that. ‘Start Your Engine And Reverse’ is a magnificent Russian short film, with no cuts, no scenes, no special effects and no music. And it works! The entire 4 minute short is filmed in one continuous shot, showing the two main characters in their car discussing an incident.

Andrey wanted to create a short film about social indifference. His intentions were to have really short film in length, but strong in emotional impact to make everything seem more real. The one continuous shot throughout the film keeps you always present and tensely involved, making the story seem as realistic as it can be. In that, helped by the remarkable acting by the pair, Andrey greatly achieved his goal.

The script was written by Mikhail Arkhipov, a man the director has never met. The original script was sent by Mikhail to Andrey by email as a 12 minute film with much more dialogue and slightly different ending. Andrey decided to modify it to make it work with the style he wanted. We don’t know what the film would of looked like if it were 12 minutes long, but the 4 minute version is unquestionably enough to leave a mark. The film will cleverly leave you uncomfortable, in a good way.

To no surprise the film was selected as a semi-finalist for the YouTube – Your Film Festival Competition. Voting is still open and they could truly use your vote to make it to the grand final in Venice! The Grand Prize Winner will be rewarded with a 500 000$ grant to create a new work, produced by Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender and a world class team.

So please go encourage Andrey and vote for ‘Start Your Engine And Reverse’:
http://www.youtube.com/user/yourfilmfestival?x=player/68hvE_u9dVg__en_us