Survivor Review

By Jacquelynn Mondragon

Once again, I returned to the Pan African Film and Arts Festival, Sunday morning. The atmosphere was still upbeat; however I noticed it was a little more crowded then my last visit. This time the audience ranged in age and there were a lot more ethnicities other then African Americans and Africans. The line grew very long and the people grew anxious, considering they were behind thirty minutes.

I was very interested in viewing Nicole Volavka’s short film, Survivor. The movie in length is fifteen minutes long. The story takes place in the London and is centered on a Rwandan, night cleaner, Ben. The movie begins with Ben cleaning an office and setting a mouse trap under the desk. He proceeds to dust off three picture frames that captivate him. The pictures are of white families and he picks one up and one can assume he is thinking about his family. His eyes seem very connected with the picture until his boss comes in and pulls him away from his emotions.

They continue into the boss’ office where Ben is introduced to Theo, who is a Sudan survivor hence, the title from Darfur. Theo is sitting in a chair clenching onto his duffle bag. He looks very timid and non conversational. The boss orders Ben to show him the house, where he is to rent out a room. Ben on the other hand gives him a dirty look. He argues with the boss in front of Theo, in regards to showing him around the house. The boss once again commands him to do so and Ben storms out leaving Theo behind.

The camera angle reveals Ben in front where Theo is behind trying to catch up. The view shows the early morning, the London streets, and their small home. They go inside and the audience learns about their living situation. It is a very small living room with an even smaller kitchen. The coffee table has a full bottle of liquor next to an old couch. Ben gives Theo a key and tells him his room is in the far back. The scene ends with Theo going up stairs.

Day turns into night and Ben is off to work. The audience learns that there are two other men who live in the same home playing cards and drinking. As far as I can remember, they’re never named and they try and persuade Ben to play with them. Ben looks over and sees Theo sleeping in a chair shaking as if he were having a bad dream. The nameless roommates laugh and make rude comments about him. They continue to beg Ben to play. However Ben protests and they taunt him repeatedly yelling, “what are you afraid of?!” Ben speaks and assertively states: “I am afraid of many things like you and everyone else.” The audience began to clap and was very into this film. Ben exits the house and is off to work.

The scene opens up with Ben under the same desk he was cleaning in the begging of the movie. The camera shows a close up of Ben’s finger and the mouse trap. His fingers were bleeding and again the audience was talking back to the screen. He runs into what looks like a closet/cleaning area and as he tries to turn on the light the bulb goes out. Ben is very hesitant to go into the dark room. Staring at the bulb he proceeds and for me this is when the movie got exciting. In the dark, Ben begins to hear the cries of children and woman and the chilling sound of men being slaughtered. Ben is screaming holding his hands to his ears. The camera is moving in circles until the boss comes in and grabs Ben on the shoulders. He tries to remind Ben that he is no longer in Rwanda that he is in London. Ben runs out and the sounds of war follow him into an alley where he envisions dead corpses. He finally makes it home where he finds Theo watching the news about the war in Darfur. He yells and commands that the television be turned off; however Theo is so wrapped in the news that one can assume he can’t hear Ben. Ben is overwhelmed by his memories that he runs over to the television and turns it off and screams, “You are not there, you have to forget about that place!” Theo responds, “My family is missing, I can never forget!” It was a very powerful scene and a lot if revealed about the characters in a matter of minutes. Ben walks over to the kitchen and makes a sandwich and cuts in half. He walks over to Theo and hands it to him “This will give you strength,” Ben calmly says. Theo thanks him. As Ben sits next to him, Theo hands him the second half of the sandwich, they lock eyes and the movie ends.

The audience was so blown away by this film. As soon as scene faded away the audience began clapping, gasping, and a woman behind me even whispered wow. I on the other hand felt like I missed something. I was lost and very disappointed by the end. I was left wanting more and maybe I was too busy taking notes that I lost what the film was about. I guess I expected more and was really upset that I didn’t have the same reaction as the audience. I looked over at my friend and he was also lost. By the reaction of the audience I would recommend this film and hope one could better explain it to me.