'A Shadow of Blue' is an imaginative adventure

“A Shadow of Blue,” by Carlos Lascano, is playing as part of Sarasota Film Festival’s Shorts 14: youthFEST Animated Shorts I at 11:45 a.m. Saturday, April 21, at Regal Hollywood 20.

The Film Festival’s Shorts 14 will include screenings of: “Monarch,” by Victor René Ramirez Madrigal and Jorge Arturo Tornero Aceves; “The Name-less,” by Violaine Lecuyer; “Ravenboy,” by Andrew Deppert; and “Rose & Violet,” by Claude Grosch and Luc Otter.

Tickets to the screening are $12 for adults and free for children.

Tickets are on sale now at sarasotafilmfestival.com.

Cornelius Stephens
Seventh grade
Booker Middle School

“A Shadow of Blue” is like a kiss from heaven. This short film, by Carlos Lascano, can touch the children of the world to still push and believe that disabled or not, you can still reach the sky.

The film is about a girl who uses her imagination to create an adventure through the forest without leaving her feet. She moves only by her shadow with her butterfly leading her. To see that there is faith for her if she is disabled makes her life meaningful for her and kids all over the world.

This is my impression of “A Shadow of Blue,” a loving story of a girl with hope and a blue light still in her heart.

Julia Woodson
Seventh grade
Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School
A gaunt little girl sits on a park bench and allows her imagination to wander. Director Carlos Lascano brings together emotional music and characters in an adventurous story. “A Shadow of Blue” is a touching story full of adventure.

A little girl fills her time on a park bench creating a majestic blue paper butterfly. The butterfly comes to life, along with the girl’s shadow. She imagines enthralling adventures with her shadow in the lead. There are suspenseful twists as her shadow skips and jumps, reaching for the butterfly.

A nasty crow acts as an antagonist and plots to scare the little girl away. The actions are expressive, and the music adds eerie suspense. Everything is not as it seems as the plot develops.

Since there is no dialogue, the actions are clear and expressive. The actions are dramatic, and the little girl’s leaps and jumps are expressed through flailing arms; crying with the heaves of the little girl’s shoulders. Even in shadow, actions are clear and precise.

The antagonist plays its part as a crow, attempting to make it impossible for the little girl to catch the butterfly. Its expressive crowing adds to its menacing appearance.

The music and the creative angles give the story another dimension.

The music adds emotion with a twirly, tinkly song in happy scenes and eerie music in the scenes of suspense. Without the music, Lascano couldn’t have portrayed emotions in shadow.

Lascano brings together great music and emotional characters to create a short film full of imagination. With twists and turns, the imagination of a little girl brings together happiness and sadness in an adventure worth taking. So, come along and take the adventure in “A Shadow of Blue.”