When an artist is a true artist, he or she finds a way to continue to speak their truth. Even though the world may seem silenced by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Director Aleksa Ristovic spoke his truth when he took a new look at the world – a world he is no longer familiar with.
EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING is a beautiful example of capturing visionary artistry – along with the message of hope – in these uncertain times. Ristovic tells a poignant story of a world he now sees differently. In a sense – more beautifully than he has before. His small backyard surroundings seem magical in his short film. He captures vivid beauty with breathtaking cinematography, score (Dave Miles) and poetic verse. A neighbor’s young boy sits behind a terrace railing – prison bars of sorts – representing his confinement. At the same time the young boy has his whole life ahead of him – which represents a future.
We see through Ristovic’s film that in the silence and isolation – there is a simplicity that is priceless. Our hectic lives have come to a screeching halt but perhaps there’s a greater universal message, to all of us, in slowing down.
Mesmerizing close-ups of clouds, their movements and the shapes they take on. Colors that magnify the beauty of this world. Little creatures that are unique characters in and of themselves to the story.
Tania Ristovic narrates two poems about hope – “The Instinct of Hope” by John Clare and “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson. “The Instinct of Hope” is an idealistic, inspirational poem that speaks about finding a world less ‘cruel’ – where hopes don’t seem to be so pointless. The whole poem is about a person who had a hope that got let down and had to build the courage to hope again. “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” is a kind of hymn of praise, written to honor the human capacity for hope. Using extended metaphor, the poem portrays hope as a bird that lives within the human soul; this bird sings come rain or shine, gale or storm, good times or bad. Both are POWERFUL choices by Ristovic.
“Please continue to hold. Your call is important to us.” Ristovic mixes what we’ve left behind – with what we’ve found. A new rhythm in slowing down and taking the world – and life in.
EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING reminds us to always look for the positives and to search for the beauty in our new stillness. The film’s message is to find our wonder in life and never lose hope…especially when life gets back to “normal.”
