Working on a homemade rostrum to capture the delicate metamorphosis of sand beneath his fingertips, Cesar Diaz Melendez carves out a haunting narrative in his short, Zepo. It tells of a little girl in search of firewood, and instead finding a trail of blood. While it’s runtime is a mere three minutes, time seems not to pass, building in stark uncertainty to a moment so chilling, it feels endless.

Melendez utilises the erasure form wonderfully. Having worked on films such as Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Kaufman’s Anomalisa, as well as various personal projects, this is no surprise. The film feels both Soviet Bloc era in its design and setting, and yet current, with the world once more cold, and Fascism on the rise. The horror of this short is painfully real. It is current, reflective of times past, and suggestive of those ahead. Where William’s Prologue (2015) presented war in battle as gruesome yet exciting, Zepo sees the effects on the outskirts: the unseen and unforgivable acts, the tragedy of the innocent, and we as witness and unwitting accomplice. It has stuck with me since first viewing, and well worth sticking with you too.

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