THE STAIN, 14min., UK, Comedy
Directed by Shir Ariya
An absurdist comedy about a man whose life turns upside down when he becomes feverishly obsessed with a mysterious stain.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thestainfilm/the-stain-a-short-film
https://www.instagram.com/thestainfilm/

Director Statement
Inspired by classic absurdist comedies such as Gogol’s ‘The Nose’ and Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, I wanted to tell a story about a character who obsessively seeks the world for a cure to a problem rather than simply bending his gaze and looking inward.

The idea first came to me over a year ago when I went back home to Thailand during the summer. My friends and I were discussing how growing up, we were often surrounded by adult figures who refuse to acknowledge mental illness—a subject which still remains taboo in our community. This jarring lack of support is evident in many people shielding their mental issues from public view in fear of being labelled ‘weak-minded’ or ‘unfit for work’. Many schools also had a suicide epidemic—evidence of the rise of mental illness in young people that went undiagnosed and more disturbingly, unnoticed.

With this issue still fresh in my mind, I began to notice how willingly people I knew would resort to various ridiculous explanations for their problems rather than a psychological one. They would blame the weather, the economy, their social circles, but never question their own state of mind. I found a sort of humour within this obstinate refusal to believe in the power of mental health.

'The Stain' deals with our natural instinct in shrinking away from being vulnerable and opening up to the people around us. It ultimately symbolises the need for distraction—one which is growing stronger and increasingly relevant to today’s world.