High Noon (2013 film)


High Noon is a 2013 Venezuelan drama short film about bullying, directed by Ivan Mazza.

Plot

In a school playground, a small and lonely child, is walking by the group of popular kids of his class when someone pushes him accidentally against the biggest boy of the group, making him drop a pack of gum in the wet and dirty floor. The boys around them decide they should fight, so it is decreed the two of them must face each other outside the school, when the noon bell rings. When the classes end, the small kid will try to escape the situation by lingering in the empty building and trying to go unnoticed. However, the ticking clock will become Figueroa's worst enemy, while he has to face his fears and insecurities in order to confront his enemy just outside the school at high noon.

Cast

High Noon is an independently financed short film, produced by Mike Medina and coproduced by CNAC. The second short film from its director, after the award-winning short film Yours from 2010. High Noon was filmed during five days in various locations over the city of Caracas, in April 2012. The project was awarded funding by Venezuela's CNAC in 2011. Editing and sound post production took place in Caracas for a period of one month after filming ended. It was premiered in March 2013 during the 23rd Cinequest Film Festival as part of the Official Short Film Competition. After this, it was selected in various prestigious Film Festivals around the world during 2013 as part of their respective Official Selections, being described by the press as a poignant film where moments of inner struggle are captured and also as a Spaghetti Western from the schoolyard.
The film was screened in half of the commercial venues in Venezuela during January and February 2015 as part of the Venezuela en corto initiative to promote award-winning Venezuelan short films to general audiences.
The plot is inspired in the director's recollections from a similar situation he lived in his childhood. He also treated the story as an homage to the Western as a film genre

Awards