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Rated: 26

Sophie Piggott鈥檚 poignant film, 26, explores her dad鈥檚 response to a life-changing event.

By Sharon Hepburn, 麻豆官网首页入口 Fresh producer

No-one could fail to be moved

I've chosen this film because of its emotional power. I know the subject is emotional and no-one could fail to be moved hearing someone talk about the loss of their wife and two children but it's also the construction of the story and the way that it's filmed that makes it one of my Rated films.

I think for a short documentary for a 麻豆官网首页入口 Three audience the personal story works very well. Sophie says her film course tutor at Uni suggested the students make something 'personal' and this was the biggest event in her life so seemed an obvious choice. However, it's also a very brave choice, as she must surely have had to re-live the raw emotions of her mother's and brothers' deaths to make the film. Her family's life becomes her subject and in order to make the film she must take the objective view of a director.

The narrative, helped by the use of music, is well constructed. Firstly, the images and music lull the viewer into a false sense of security until the point where the story turns, the devastating deaths are described and the music becomes sad to further deepen the emotional impact. The viewer is then lifted, again helped by the music, to take us to the point that Sophie is making: live life to the full because you never know what's around the corner.

The images and music lull the viewer into a false sense of security until the point where the story turns

Projecting family footage on to the faces of her subjects works on a number of levels. Firstly, it adds atmosphere to the film. It also works on a symbolic level - images of lost family members play like memories across the faces of those left behind and it is a subtle way of bringing archive footage into the film. For these reasons I rate 26 by Sophie Piggott.

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Rated

This film is Rated by the 麻豆官网首页入口 Fresh team. Rated films are those the team or guest reviewers enjoyed, and feel are worth highlighting because of their production techniques. Reviews may contain spoilers.