Director Tomer Shushan's White Eye has been shortlisted for the 2021 Academy Awards in the Live Action Short Film category. The 20-minute Israeli production shows the harsh realities of undocumented immigrants on the run, and has screened at over 70 film festivals, including 23 Oscar-qualifying.
The short tells the story of a man, who finds his stolen bicycle, which now belongs to a stranger. After contacting the police and confronting the man, he realizes that the incident is triggering bigger problems that are now out of his control.
Shushan is a writer and director from Israel, and White Eye marks his second short. The film was shot using Arri’s Alexa Mini with a Cooke 27mm lens. Saar Mizrahi served as cinematographer, and Nir Bar was the Steadicam operator. The short plays out in realtime as one uninterrupted 20-minute scene. The camera follows Omer as he finds his missing bike, contacts the police and interacts with the thief, who is working in a nearby factory.
Shira Hochman was both co-producer and editor on the project, which features original music by Yosefi Shlomo. Nin Hazan of DB Studios provided sound design and Ilya Marcus handled the color grade. VFX were created by Daniel Tsukahira of Cinnamon VFX.