Reflective Encounters

“In many ways the short film form has been perfect for pandemic times. Not only in terms of immediacy – shorts can respond to the world around us quicker than features – but in terms of aesthetic. Shorts have always been able to work with intimacy, with a sense of the minute and the subtle – all attributes that have become more prevalent in current times - in a more meaningful way than their feature counterparts.

I’m Fine is a – pardon the pun – a fine example of this both in its mode of production and the end product. Shot over one day in New York City, and directed remotely from Greece, the film demonstrates some of the ingenuity at the heart of many a filmmaker during the COVID era. But it’s also a perfect encapsulation of the time. As our protagonist – in an amazing performance from rising star Pauline Chalamet (elder sister of Timothée) – tries to work out what message to leave her mother on her answer phone, she verbalises many of the fears and worries that have occurred to many of us over the past year within a film that both genuinely funny and rueful.”

— Laurence Boyce