366 Days

Coming from Germany’s Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, 366 Days is a short film by Austrian director and animator Johannes Schiehsl that focuses on loneliness. This is the kind of film that portrays a situation with such authenticity that necessarily raises the question about a possible autobiographical connection with the subject matter (Schiehsl, in fact, served as a paramedic).

366 Days uses an urban staging, mostly de-saturated colors, static cameras (with a few exceptions), long takes (with montage within the frame and some great uses of reframing) and high-contrast lighting. Sensory images are also used very effectively, as well as heightened subjectivity in narration. The story is told from the POV of the young paramedic, placing an emphasis on his internal conflict and his character’s development, using voice-over narration.

The visual description of loneliness through the various characters, the internal struggle of the paramedic and how the film shows the redeeming and therapeutic qualities of human connection (along with a bit of humor), all weaved with nice narrative devices, make for a great film to watch about an uncomfortable subject. That is quite a feat.