The ShortFusion programme this year offers, as always, a slew of new talent and innovation. Each programme has been arranged around themes such as “nostalgia” and “existentialism”, and each set of shorts complement one another in their own way. From Estonian animation to bittersweet comedy and Beckettian absurdism, it’s well worth taking a closer look at these opportunities to enjoy several experiences for the price of one.

…. just one slice of an important story, told with great sensitivity and authenticity.

However, Xavier Legrand’s multiple award-winning JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING (AVANT QUE DE TOUT PERDRE) has been allocated its own screening at the Cambridge Film Festival. It is technically a short film – it’s 30 minutes long – but even in this amount of time, Legrand has us emotionally invested in his characters, and therefore all the more anxious for their wellbeing when the source of their distress becomes clear. It’s a carefully orchestrated thriller driven by excellent performances, not least from the younger actors. To appreciate this film you should go in blind – this review contains no spoilers – and then following the screening, give yourself time to mull it over, as you would any feature-length experience. It’s no exaggeration to describe this film as one of the most powerful in this year’s programme.

JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING is just one slice of an important story, told with great sensitivity and authenticity. Legrand’s finely crafted crescendo somehow stretches the thirty minutes just enough to allow us to piece together the bigger picture behind what at first seems to be just another day for an ordinary family – the young son plays truant, the teenage daughter waits at a bus stop, and the mother heads to her workplace. What will the titular loss entail? A death… an escape… a banishment? We strongly recommend you find out at one of the three screenings at Cambridge Arts Picturehouse. But, if possible, don’t watch it alone.

Buy a ticket for any Shorts programme and gain free entry to any screening of this film.

Click here to book tickets for JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING at Cambridge Arts Picturehouse at 16.30 on the 19th, 15.00 on the 21st or 17:30 on the 24th.