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This is Vanity

Burgeoning British filmmaker Oliver Goodrum shares his award-winning work on Vimeo

by Andrea DiCenzo

Beautifully shot and impeccably directed, Oliver Goodrum‘s first short film, “This is Vanity” premiered online as one of Vimeo’s Staff Picks . The short film, which has gone on to win Best Drama at Magnolia Independent Film Festival and the Audience Award at Bermuda International Film Festival, is the harrowing tale of a young mother and her disabled teenage daughter struggling to overcome bullying in a small town in England. Not an easy pill to swallow—especially considering the idea stems from a real life story that made headlines across the UK in 2011. However, the ambitious film takes on this dark subject matter with a great amount of dignity and grace.

An excellent performance from a largely unknown cast (with the exception of Primeval star Lucy Brown‘s brilliant performance as Angela) and the almost lyrical cinematography bring a softness and beauty that balances out the otherwise hard-hitting narrative.

This independent production has done exceedingly well considering its humble backing, which the director very honestly proclaims was mostly funded by himself and his brother-cum-producer, James Goodrum.

You can currently watch the 23-minute-long, emotionally moving film in its entirety above, or over at Vimeo.

Images courtesy of Oliver Goodrum

COOL HUNTING always gets permission to use the images we publish; however, as an independent publication, we cannot afford to continue fighting unfair claims of copyright infringement, so the images have been removed from this post.

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