White Eye

Writer/director Tomer Shushan takes a familiar subject for a ride around the Israeli block in his Oscar-nominated short. The White Eye of the title no doubt refers to the white privilege experience of his protagonist Omer (Daniel Gad), who spots the bicycle he claims was stolen from him recently while on a night out. His class privilege also goes a long way to convincing others around him that the bike is his, even if he is initially given the runaround by the local police. This sense of entitlement throbs through the film as he barely thinks twice about taking matters into his own hands and others are only too help.

Given this set up you can probably see where this is all going as the man about to stand accused of the theft has none of Omer's inherent power. Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb) is an Eritrean migrant, working a breadline job in a nearby meat factory - for him the bike, which he claims he bought, a vital asset rather than something ridden for pleasure.

The trajectory of this story is fairly obvious but Shushan shows considerable skill in terms of craft. The film is shot by Saar Mizrahi in a single, beginning in the street before going through Yunes' workplace and out again. The device isn't being used just for show as it helps to generate tension, helping to juice up the emotion in the face of the somewhat predictable plot. Shushan has an eye for a strong image and it will be interesting to see what he might achieve next especially if he gets to work with a more intricate and less familiar tale.