There are few women who could tell the story of their first great love in a matter of minutes. And even fewer who could recount one that includes stalking, gunfire and a shocking conclusion, all in one five-minute take.
But that is precisely what happens in Ann Marie Fleming’s New Shoes. Fleming points a camera at her subject, seated at the kitchen table with some tea. The woman swiftly tells her story of physical and emotional harassment with candour, but also detachment. Throughout the film, Fleming cuts away to a princess-costumed woman frolicking in the park as animated triangles dance around the screen. These cutaways are a distraction—the woman at the table, telling her story of abuse, is arresting enough—but maybe that’s the point. The story gets more and more terrifying. The clock keeps ticking.
Watch the film here. (Embedding disabled.)
