Benjamin, Benny, Ben

Benjamin, Benny, Ben
Film poster
Directed byPaul Shkordoff
Written byPaul Shkordoff
Produced byJason Aita
StarringAnwar Haj
Natalie Gallard
CinematographyPeter Hadfield
Edited byBrendan Mills
Music byKyle McCrea
Release date
  • September 13, 2020 (2020-09-13) (TIFF)
Running time
7 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Benjamin, Benny, Ben is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Paul Shkordoff and released in 2020.[1] The film stars Anwar Haj as Benjamin, a Black Canadian man on his way to a job interview, whose preparations are threatened when he trips and falls along the way.[1]

The film premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival,[2] where it was named the winner of the award for Best Canadian Short Film.[3] It was also named as an official selection of the short films competition at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival,[4] which proceeded in October 2020 despite the cancellation of the overall festival in the spring.[5]

The film was named to TIFF's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for short films.[6]

The film received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards.[7]

  1. ^ a b Andrew Parker, "A Look at Short Cuts Programme 03 | TIFF 2020". TheGATE.ca, September 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF adds special events including new edition of Planet Africa, live talks series". Screen Daily, August 25, 2020.
  3. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Toronto: Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' Wins Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter, September 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Fabien Lemercier, "The short films vying for the Palme d’Or at Cannes unveiled". Cineuropa, 19 June 2020.
  5. ^ Manori Ravindran, "Cannes Film Festival Plans Three-Day Special Event in October". Variety, 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ Victoria Ahearn, "Toronto International Film Festival releases Top Ten lists for 2020" Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine. Squamish Chief, December 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Brent Furdyk (March 30, 2021). "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations". ET Canada. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021.