Gekas

Twelve-year-old Vassilliakis (Pavlos Lagos, making a sensitively performed debut) and it's little wonder since his gruff father Giannis (Nikos Georgakis) is insisting he fires a gun. But in many ways the latest short from Dimitris Moutsiakas is all about how things become loaded for the kill as much as fired.

The writer/director's drama belongs to the school of Greek film that inhabits the damp and cool countryside of Greece rather than the picture postcard beachside image. These spaces are, if the latest young cohort of directors are to be believed, a place where toxic masculinity thrives and is handed down the generations like a treasured heirloom.

The gift for Vassilliakis' birthday also comes loaded. He picks the cutest dog at the pound - in a shot which sees Yiorgos Karvelas' watchful camera sweep along a row of cages. Max is the Greek harehound (or Gekas) of the film's title. Just a pup but full of the unconditional love that Giannis refuses to give his son. "Don't cuddle him all the time," Vassillakis is told, "He's not a pet."

Although this is only 25 minutes long, it is lean and immersive and, while it feels complete in itself, could easily form the foundation for an equally strong longer feature in the Ken Loach mould. Gekas won the top Golden Dionysis award at Greece's Drama Short Film Festival, which qualifies it for Oscar consideration and it is worthy of making the shortlist.

Moutsiakas keeps us with his young protagonist so that we understand his emotions, his reluctance to kill a hare even when it is in his sights. We can see how Giannis, too, has been groomed by his circumstances, belittled by his mates because he hasn't shot any game. This is also a film of smart choices, with the director choosing the right moment to back off or move in for a detail and when to leave what is happening to our imaginations by keeping it offscreen.

Moutsiakas takes care to fill in the periphery of the 12-year-old's life, so we also see his interaction with a young girl (Tzogia Gouma) of about the same age, her dog speaking volumes about their different home lives. The real 'gift' that Giannis wants to give his son is one of anger, which he loads on to the boy at every opportunity. The question that remains is whether Vassilliakis will accept it or make a different choice.