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The Guilt - La Culpa ( in Spanish)

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La Culpa, translated as The Guilt, is an accomplished and absorbing short film from Spanish director David Victori and a worthy winner to one of the most high profile short film contests ever. YouTube partnered with the airline Emirates, as well as with , a production company founded by Ridley Scott and his late brother Tony, to offer a $500,000 prize to one talented filmmaker. The contest began in January, and through a public voting process was whittled down to 10 finalists. The 10 finalists were flown to the Venice Film Festival where their films were exhibited in a special gala screening, and last night star actor Michael Fassbender presented Victori as the winner.

The Guilt is a revenge thriller with supernatural elements. Confronting his wife's killer, our main character is faced with a moral quandry. Taking full advantage of a truly striking set location, the film dramatizes the cycles of retribution that violence puts into motion, and explores the psychology of ending that circle.

Featuring notable acting performances and impressive control over the look, mood and pacing, The Guilt is an excellent calling card for Victori. The plot itself is a bit cliché, as the MC Escher-like supernatural effects are not intriguing enough in their own right to make up for the lack of character development. But what is pleasing about the short story-wise is that the script avoids easy endings. Many otherwise fine short films suffer by abruptly stopping without a true ending and there were at least two instances when watching The Guilt that I feared it would fall prey to this common failing. Instead it held out for what ends up being a rather satisfying close.

In its attempt to showcase indie-film talent on YouTube's platform, part of a larger strategy by the online video giant towards more substantial content, I would declare the festival a success. The ten finalists do not stack up favorably against the very best of what short film has to offer, as the recent and phenomenal ShortList Online Festival has shown us, but the quality of the competition's films is pretty high. Films like and North Atlantic were thought well enough by our editorial staff to be Short of the Week selections. That said, the quality of the finalists does not not exceed your typical Vimeo Staff Pick, (notable disclosure, I curate Vimeo Staff Picks), nor, despite the marketing muscle behind the competition, did the films reach a far greater audience-at the time of the award announcement The Guilt had received around 65,000 views.

So, while a phenomenal opportunity for the filmmakers involved - Fassbender and Scott will Executive Produce a new project by Victori using the $500,000 award - it is undecided as of yet if YouTube will be able to steal back the creative, indie filmmakers that have increasingly become associated with Vimeo. Since the abandonment of the YouTube Screening Room, short film has not had a home on the service, as priorities have shifted towards the the multi-million dollar channel strategy. The Your Film Festival is a fine promotional effort, but if wooing short filmmakers is to be part of YouTube's strategy going forward, it will take more than a celeb-driven online film festival to do it.

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The Guilt: Your Film Festival Winner by David Victori | Short Film

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La Culpa, translated as The Guilt, is an accomplished and absorbing short film from Spanish director David Victori and a worthy winner to one of the most high profile short film contests ever. YouTube partnered with the airline Emirates, as well as with , a production company founded by Ridley Scott and his late brother Tony, to offer a $500,000 prize to one talented filmmaker.

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colour palette: happiness and joy

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsy5gQqfB9E&feature=youtu.be

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gothic, bluish grey colour palette

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"Along the River" - short western film starring Franco Nero (sub ITA)

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Gloomy dull colours that would typically be seen in a school. Like dark blues, grayish greens, tans, and whites.

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Colour Palette: Predominant blue and greys
High key Lighting, Hard contrasts,

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If like me you're a fan of Science-Fiction and use the internet to stay up-to-date with all the latest Sci-Fi news then there's a good chance you've already discovered Robbie & Stephen Amell's short film Code 8. Currently setting the blogosphere alight with its tale of humans who possess supernatural powers, this 10-minute film acts a precursor for a larger narrative the duo are currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo.

Narratively Code 8 isn't exactly breaking new ground, think X-Men meets District 9 and that seems to be the premise in a nutshell, but it more than makes up for its lack of originality in the storytelling department with some stellar production values and assured performances. Quickly immersing you in a world where those who are born with abnormal capabilities are forced to live in poverty, Code 8 follows Robbie Amell's ( The Flash, The X-Files) Taylor Reed as he struggles to control his powers as everyday life grinds him down.

Though listed as the 'Drone Pilot' in the credits, the short doesn't star Robbie's brother Stephen ( Arrow, The Flash) due to work commitments, but he admits on their Indiegogo page he's going to do everything he can to help make this a feature film. The duo are keen not to say too much about how their narrative will develop, but they do reveal the following in their crowdfunding campaign - "this movie will be intense, it will feel real, and you will see a side of Robbie and Stephen that you haven't seen before. Oh, and there will be robots, superpowers, and a ton of badass action".

Following hot on the heels of Factory Fifteen's and David Karlak's there might be some of you out there getting a little bored with the Sci-Fi proof-of-concept short, but it's a trend that shows no signs of subsiding and with the impressive production on show in Code 8 and the star power behind it, we're certain this is a storyline we're going to see more of (the Indiegogo campaign has already exceeded it's $200k target and still has some time to run).

If you want to follow the film's progress be sure to like the Facebook page below or follow them on Twitter at @code8movie

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Code 8 by Jeff Chan | A Robbie & Stephen Amell short film

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If like me you're a fan of Science-Fiction and use the internet to stay up-to-date with all the latest Sci-Fi news then there's a good chance you've already discovered Robbie & Stephen Amell's short film Code 8.

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blue & grey tints - to add gloominess, portray feelings of agony
warm shades - portray nostalgia, reminiscent of the past

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Drama (and the same can be said of love) is simply two opposing forces coming together-one defining the other as a positive charge needs a negative charge to create attraction or repulsion. Requiem for Romance brings opposition to a new level. The film combines opposing techniques with the voiceover of a soft phone conversation and the animation of frenetic, anime-inspired swordplay to tell the story of two lovers at a crossroad with their traditional values.

We're two people who are right for each other. So it should be simple. It should be a happy ending. I don't know why this has to be so difficult. Life doesn't always have a happy ending. Come on you gotta stop watching those Korean dramas. They've brainwashed you.

It's almost too obvious to point out, but clearly a major draw for Requiem for Romance is the sheer beauty of its animation. The film combines traditional drawn animation and live action backgrounds into a dreamy watercolor aesthetic.

But great films use aesthetics to complement story. And as beautiful as this film is on its own, its aesthetic actually brings greater meaning to the story itself. The watercolor bleeding and seeping through the backgrounds gives life to the larger societal pressures the two lovers battle. They, by contrast, seem small, inconsequential to a larger beauty that makes the sour ending seem not just inevitable but also more palatable. We accept that these are two forces not meant to attract and are somehow okay with it. In fact, it's this acceptance of a larger fate in spite of our personal desires, not only for the characters but for us as viewers, that makes this short such a remarkable and cleverly complex story.

Jonathan, a Canadian filmmaker, has worked as a pre-viz animator on Hollywood blockbusters before devoting himself to making his own animated films with an upcoming feature film in the works.

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Requiem For Romance by Jonathan Ng | Animated Short Film

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Drama (and the same can be said of love) is simply two opposing forces coming together-one defining the other as a positive charge needs a negative charge to create attraction or repulsion. Requiem for Romance brings opposition to a new level.

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hile hanging a piece of art in her new home, a woman unintentionally knocks a hole in her wall, revealing something sinister on the other side, in this twisted psychological horror from actress Janina Gavankar and Russo Schelling. Co-written by the pair, this elevated horror was fittingly selected to play in SXSW's Midnight Shorts competition and it is as eerie and strange as the program's reputation would suggest. Gavankar, known for her performances in the Apple TV+ original series The Morning Show and currently drawing rave reviews opposite Ben Affleck in the sports drama The Way Back, proves she's a triple threat with her leading role in Stucco, providing a portrait of a woman beset on all sides by threats: real, supernatural, and from her own mind. If you were looking for a claustrophobic horror film to set the tone for your current or eventual self-quarantine, Stucco's exploration of agoraphobia is the perfect watch!

In the film, Gavankar and Schelling "monsterize" their experiences with depression and anxiety to create a cathartic release via hair-raising horror. The modesty of the production is turned into an advantage via the script, as Gavankar's character's distress-a mix of a toxic relationship and mental health issues, prevents her from leaving the house. The team, in particular, cinematographer, Quyen Tran, leverages this single location to create an uncanny sense of unease with an odd god-like camera angle of the kitchen. The various shifts in perspective throughout the film turn what would be a familiar and safe place into a nightmarish playground. Simple and effective, Gavankar and Schelling's use of framing force us to see the house the way the trapped character feels, and it's altogether chilling. "We've always wanted to make work that examines the part of ourselves we're least proud of. Sometimes before we can move on, we are forced to vomit our past, or sit in the mess we've made. Stucco is this, for us," explains Gavankar to Short of the Week.

Did we mention Stucco was gross? The impressive practical effects by artist Frank Ippolito, who is a master in creature-making, are integral to the film's lasting impact. A long human-like tongue probing through the wall is absolute nightmare fuel and we imagine it would be a fun scene to watch with a lively audience. It took four pulleys and two puppeteers on the other side of the wall to achieve the tongue's motion and three people to create the...no spoilers, but...truly traumatizing "thing" at the film's end.

In writing Stucco, Gavankar and Schelling had quite a few industry professionals at their fingertips, including Gavankar's The Way Back co-star Ben Affleck. "I pitched the tongue sequence to Ben and the look on his face, the way he twisted his face up, and he cringed so intensely, I knew I had something. I was like, if I can get this dude to twist up that much at the thought, I've got something!" Gavankar recently shared with THR. The 17-minute short also features appearances from established talents Debra Messing and Aisha Tyler as well as original music by Questlove.

Stucco is an incredibly crafted horror short that is cringe-worthy and weird in all the right ways. While you won't be able to see it in Austin, we recommend you gather your friends for a watch party because the reactions will be worth it!

Gavankar and Schelling have several projects in the works at various levels of development in the TV, Film, and Podcast world. One of which is a feature comparable to Stucco in tone and practical effects and we can't wait to find out more!

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This post is an entry in SXSW Shorts Week, which celebrates the selected short films of the SXSW 2020 program in the wake of the festival's cancellation. Follow along on our site, on YouTube, and on social media via the hashtag #sxswshorts.

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Stucco by Janina Gavankar & Russo Schelling - Horror

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hile hanging a piece of art in her new home, a woman unintentionally knocks a hole in her wall, revealing something sinister on the other side, in this twisted psychological horror from actress Janina Gavankar and Russo Schelling.

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Inspiration photos: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-student-inside-classroom-3380743/

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Visual Influence:
Satoshi Kan's Perfect Blue

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An exciting fusion of elements near and dear to my heart: motorcycles and cyberpunk, criminal gangs and family conflict, near-future technology and striking animation design, AUTONOMOUS is a visually lush action sequence designed to show off the themes and sensibilities of a proposed larger world. Imagining a corrupt corporate hegemony presiding over all of society's transportation infrastructure after the advent of fully self-driving vehicles, the film sets against this backdrop of total control and surveillance a group of gear-head motorcycle couriers who represent a beacon of freedom as they traverse the grid and escape detection.

As an excerpt from a larger idea, and clocking in at just over 4min, this is strict proof-of-concept fare, which means those hoping for narrative depth will be disappointed. AUTONOMOUS is visual eye candy first and foremost, with hints and handwaves towards the more expansive pitch that its creators, Joe Sill and Matisse Tolin, have put together. COVID is, in part, responsible for its production, as the creators, both well-established in commercial and live-action filmmaking wanted to find new ways to create the stories they love as an alternative to in-person production during this time. Describing their motivation, Sill informs us that "We've had the story outline and bible for a long-format version of this project for some time now, and early in the pandemic we dusted it off and began to wonder what a short film excerpt of it would look like."

Drawing from familiar inspirations such as the anime touchstone Akira, as well as Western influences like The Departed and Robocop, the pair set to work at distilling their expansive outline into a concentrated form that could relay the gist of their vision, but also be executable under these trying circumstances. While the duo cite mainstream works, I am naturally reminded of a short, Wes Ball's which similarly took a motorcyclist on a CG sci-fi journey and served as a calling-card that resulted in Ball helming the popular Maze Runner franchise.

While I enjoy the themes of the expanded pitch, proof-of-concept shorts are a dime a dozen, and the differentiating factor for AUTONOMOUS is its visual sensibility. It's really fresh. Dark, with an ethereal glow to its lighting and an intense grain to its images, I was struck by the aesthetic. Having watched hundreds of hours of CG animation, I'm sensitive to any changes in design and palette I encounter, and AUTONOMOUS isn't quite like anything I've ever seen.

Much of this is attributable to Sill, who, in the 7 years since we featured his student short, , has become an in-demand image-maker with hi-profile commercial work for Apple, NASA, Nike, and Tesla. With his feature film debut, 2019's , Sill dipped his toe into longer formats, and in teaming up with Tolin has found a partner with similar interests as well as experience as a screenwriter, pitch developer, and producer.

Could you see AUTONOMOUS as a longer-form series? Would you be excited by the prospect? The world of non-comedic animation for adult audiences is still sparse, but in a world where LOVE DEATH + is a hit on Netflix, and debuted to much acclaim on Amazone Prime, there is new hope that mature 100% animated projects like AUTONOMOUS may have a future on a television screen near you.

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AUTONOMOUS by Joe Sill | Action Short Film

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An exciting fusion of elements near and dear to my heart: motorcycles and cyberpunk, criminal gangs and family conflict, near-future technology and striking animation design, AUTONOMOUS is a visually lush action sequence designed to show off the themes and sensibilities of a proposed larger world.

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Film: RECORD/PLAY
(Sci-Fi)

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It's a distinct pleasure to see smart sci-fi in any medium. Not to sound grouchy, but with the growing accessibility to top-notch VFX, it seems easier than ever to answer the question of "what is this script missing?", with "more aliens, bigger guns".

That's not how it should be, and shorts SHOULD lead the way, because, as we try to emphasize, shorts, rather than $200M tentpoles, are the arena in which to explore ideas. All of which is a prologue to saying that today we have a keeper for you, a celebrated short science-fiction film from up-and-comer Jesse Atlas, which, while not scientifically deep, accomplishes the important traits of being both novel and emotionally resonant.

The film opens with a shot of numerous cassette tapes meticulously labeled and ordered. The time period we are in in unclear, but the tapes themselves are from the mid-80's to the early 90's. A man listens to one tape and we hear the voice of woman describing her day. He begins to cry. The ambiguous nature of this setup piques our curiosity. The recorder breaks, and the man goes to his workshop to fix it. Identifying the culpable part, he replaces it with a piece he harvests from an old NASA kit. It works. He listens to the voice on the recording and is once again transported-this time, literally so.

It's a sort of hokey, 80's premise that doesn't necessarily blend well with the serious Primer- style depiction of a workshop tinkerer, but Atlas asks you to suspend disbelief and jump with him. Plausibility is not his goal, and he spends next to no time establishing behaviors or rules for this fantastic device. It could rub some viewers the wrong way, but I think it's a perfect use of a cliché, as it exploits familiarity with the plot trope in order to progress the narrative, allowing Atlas to focus more on the story he wants to tell than the mechanics of it. It could be argued that tonally it is a clever move as well, that the use of a hokey setup establishes an audience expectation of the film that is eventually subverted, leaving the viewer more emotionally vulnerable to the eventual climax.

Now it's dangerous to say on the internet that anything relating to time travel can be novel, and certainly, the idea of time loops are not in any way unexplored territory, but I do find the conceit of the tape player to be a very clever for many reasons. The fact that tape is, in itself, a time-based medium is one. It is linear, but simultaneously all moments of time represented on the tape exist at any given moment through its physicality. It encompasses the concept of time as a stream, but also the idea of time as a fixed entity, and thus serves as a clever metaphor. Secondly, the concept of rewind, an identifiable way to scrub through time, a sort of fantastical interface or controller is pleasing. Lastly, while not an original insight, the fact that recording technology is already is a sense a form of time travel makes it the perfect medium in which to explore the concept. All of those tapes replicate moments that passed years earlier. In a sense, every time you listen to a tape you are traveling through time to revisit an event long since passed, that of the original recording.

With a gorgeous grade and great latitude in the shots from extreme closeups to wide angle, the film has plenty of style, and is a strong directorial showcase for Atlas-a testament to skills earned as a commercial director rather than those of a precocious talent. The film was made through the L.A. based production company Collaboration Factory, which is also a home to Brent Bonacorso, whose work we highlighted this year with the phenomenal West of the Moon. Bonacorso and Atlas have sought to collaborate in the past on feature films, which is an exciting prospect. We hope that team-up happens, but in the meantime Atlas may have secured his break, as Focus Features announced last week that it wants a feature version of RECORD/PLAY with Atlas attached to direct. Aaron Wolfe, who co-wrote the short as well as edited the film, is onboard too, and Atlas Entertainment is set to produce. With Cutter Hodierne's VICE-produced adaptation of Fishing Without Nets on the horizon, and Destin Daniel Cretton's Short Term 12 garnering acclaim in limited release, the short-to-feature path seems alive and well, and executives are showing excellent taste.

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It's a distinct pleasure to see smart sci-fi in any medium. Not to sound grouchy, but with the growing accessibility to top-notch VFX, it seems easier than ever to answer the question of "what is this script missing?", with "more aliens, bigger guns".

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visual look

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WARNING: NSLV (not suitable for lunchtime viewing)! In the past 20 years, I have seen some pretty disturbing films, so I rarely get phased, but I have to admit that Mouse genuinely tickled my funny bone as well as my gag reflex. The 11 min short, written and directed by Celine Held (director of our recent feature ) and Logan George (the star of one of my favourite shorts of all time, ) is more than just a gross-out comedy however. Under the darkly comedic veil of repulsion lies a consummately entertaining, yet harrowing look into the relationship of two people who hit rock-bottom. Mouse dares to challenge the audience and succeeds in convincing them in the authenticity of the main characters, even if the circumstances we find them in are quite absurd.

Drug addicts Vanessa and Danny live for the next hit. But desperation turns to hope when they discover a dead mouse in a tin of baked beans, and the possibility of a huge payout infects their drug-addled minds. With its claustrophobic aesthetic, escalating tension and some pretty vile imagery, Mouse makes for an uncomfortable watch. You will laugh through it however, so it's worth sticking around, even if it spoils your appetite.

The inspiration for Mouse came after Held and George saw an article about a girl who found a bat in her breakfast cereal. After some, ahem, digging around, the co-directors read about a few more cases of unfortunate animals being discovered in food packages. I feel I should add here, that I too had a very unpleasant experience related to a jar of frankfurters, which I have sworn off ever since. The duo thought 'this would be so easy to fake, but how would you prove it if it was actually true?' - and just like that the idea for Mouse was born.

Stripped to its bare bones, Mouse is all about the two main characters, the incident with the rodent only acting as a catalyst to their escalating madness, and a symbol for their doomed relationship. Vanessa and Danny are comical in their desperation and irrational, drug-fueled decisions, they are pitiful and laughable yet they are so cleverly written, they feel undeniably real. Right at the start we see Vanessa secretly packing her stuff, ready to leave. Her paranoia, selfishness, her lack of trust and love for Danny a bad match to the all consuming, blind adoration he feels towards her. This unbalanced dynamic and the palpable tension between the two pulsates throughout the film, making Mouse an astonishing sensory experience, marked by the incredible performances of the actors.

Held and George are currently working on three shorts, as well as a feature film called Little. The duo forming ELO Films seem to turn everything they touch into cinematic gold so I cannot wait to see these!

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Mouse by Celine Held and Logan George | Short Film

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WARNING: NSLV (not suitable for lunchtime viewing)! In the past 20 years, I have seen some pretty disturbing films, so I rarely get phased, but I have to admit that Mouse genuinely tickled my funny bone as well as my gag reflex.

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Inspiration for visuals and themes

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This is Artemisia Gentileschi's "Judith Beheading Holofernes"

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MILLER & SON
by Asher Jelinsky
Fiction | 2019 | USA | 21min

A transwoman mechanic lives between running her family’s auto shop during the day and expressing her femininity at night, until an unforeseen event threatens balance of her compartmentalized life.

CAST & CREW
Written & Directed by: Asher Jelinsky
Produced by: Kate Chamuris
Cinematography by: Robert Nachman
Production Design by: Robert Aguirre
Edited by: Selinda Zhou
Sound Design by: This Is Sound Design
Music by: Art Bleek, Curtis Heath
Casting by: Russell Boast, CSA
Starring: Jesse James Keitel, Ryan Cutrona, Travis Hammer, Alexandra Grey

AWARDS
Student Academy Awards - Winner, Gold
BAFTA Student Film Awards - Winner, Best Live Action
Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival - Nominee, Grand Prix
St. Louis International Film Festival - Winner, Best Live-Action Short
Ashland Independent Film Festival - Winner, Best Narrative Short (Jury & Audience Awards)
Cannes Lions Young Director Award - Winner, Gold
Casting Society Artios Awards - Nominee, Short Film Casting
Venice TV Award - Nominee, New Talent
Nevada City Film Festival - Winner, Best Performance Jesse James Keitel
SF Shorts - Winner, Audience Award
North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Festival - Winner, Best Long Form Dramatic Short
FilmOut San Diego - Winner, Outstanding Artistic Achievement

Follow Miller & Son on social media:
www.millerandsonfilm.com
facebook.com/millerandsonfilm
http://instagram.com/millerandsonfilm
https://twitter.com/millersonfilm

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Lefty/Righty stars Lewis Pullman ( Bad Times at the El Royale, Catch 22, Top Gun: Maverick) as a young divorced cowboy coming to terms with his father's soon and inevitable passing, and with his role as a father himself. Writer/director Max Walker-Silverman manages to grapple with some of life's biggest topics, from loss and forgiveness to family and grief, with an assured light-handedness of style, if not substance. Like its characters, the film doesn't need to say much to communicate everything there is to say.

With its sense of wry melancholy, laconic atmosphere, and taciturn protagonists, Lefty/Righty evokes the mood of works from auteurs such as Aki Kaurismäki or Jim Jarmusch. However it is the dead-pan style of the Coen brothers that is probably the film's most obvious influence, apart from classic Hollywood westerns and the filmmaker's own experiences. The film's stylistic and narrative reference points speak to the anachronism of being a cowboy in today's modern times and its traditional portrayal in pop culture, as well as the director's personal inspirations shaped by his upbringing and subsequent reprocessing.

"Having grown up in rural Colorado, but then living in New York, Lefty/Righty was a return home of sorts; a glance westward towards the people who raised and shaped me, but then inhabited my life largely as memories", director Max Walker-Silverman explains. "The film was an attempt to make sense of the strange and powerful nostalgia the rural west holds; the way it plants these romantics hooks in your mind, the way it doesn't let go, the speed at which life there turns to memories and memories turn to illusions."

Transporting the cliched image of the strong, silent cowboy type into the 21st century, filmmaker Walker-Silverman's portrayal of the emotionally stunted male archetype might have been in danger of bordering on caricature, if it weren't for the film's apparent affection for its characters and their deep-seated vulnerability which is palpable in every frame.

The film's sensibilities are further reflected in the deliberately subdued performances: One only needs to watch lead actor Lewis Pullman's countenance in the first scene, when he picks up his daughter from his ex-wife and her partner, to see the wide range of emotions across his face changing within seconds, conveyed with the wince of an eyebrow.

Produced by Jesse Hope-whose involvement in the short makes even more sense when you look at his IMDb credits, and S/W alum Grant Hyun (), Lefty/Righty particularly mesmerizes through its magnificent imagery, which was awarded the KODAK Vision Award and CAMERIMAGE's Student Award for its cinematography. The romanticism associated with analog film, especially in an age of digital media, becomes a central element of the film in evoking a sense of timelessness.

"My cinematographer Alfonso Herrera Salcedo and I were drawn to the apparent contradiction of 16mm film, with its blue-collar roughness; and Anamorphic glass, with its legacy of Hollywood grandeur", director Max Walker-Silverman says about the specific look of his short. "That opposition seemed appropriate for a story at once earthy and modest, yet heightened and somewhat surreal."

Like film stock itself, it's a feeling of something simultaneously antiquated and very much alive. It is this alternation that's at the core of our concepts of family and home: memories of where we came from forever intertwining with our constant experience of the now. A sense of place that maybe never was. A group of people that makes us feel like we belong and feel understood - with or without words. That's all nostalgia really is: A lingering, elusive feeling of homesickness and yearning for an imaginary past. The film is as much about the unspoken things we wish we could have said as the things we aren't able to put into words. With its unagitated pacing and tone, Lefty/Righty makes us look for significance in the mundane details of life, its reflection on the passing of time serving as a reminder of how the things we lost can help us appreciate the things we still have even more.

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Lefty/Righty by Max Walker-Silverman | Dramedy Short Film

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Lefty/Righty stars Lewis Pullman ( Bad Times at the El Royale, Catch 22, Top Gun: Maverick) as a young divorced cowboy coming to terms with his father's soon and inevitable passing, and with his role as a father himself.