Winner of the 2016 Heartland Film Festival prize for Best Documentary Short, along with the $5,000 prize, Callum Rice's exceptionally unique and awesomely inspired Mining Poems or Odes may not, at first glance, feel like your usual Heartland Film Festival screening film. 

Listen to it. I'm serious. Really listen to it. Listen to the transformational language of subject Robert Fullerton and you'll understand why this short film captivated the Heartland Film Festival shorts and grand juries and took home the fest's top prize. It's a rather bold and inspired choice by Heartland Film Festival and an absolutely magnificent one. 

The film tells the story of Robert, an ex-shipyard welder from Govan in Glasgow, who is reflecting on how his life experiences have influenced his newly found compulsion to write. 

The film has already been nominated for a BAFTA for Best British Short Film and was nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. In addition to its win at Heartland, Mining Poems or Odes picked up the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Short Film and also picked up the top prize at Aspen Shortsfest. 

The film is beautifully photographed by Fraser Rice, a frequent D.P. on U.K. television and the filmmaker's brother, and Callum Rice's uniquely envisioned framing and inspired construction combine to make the film one of the most original doc shorts to play at Heartland in years. Both beautifully rendered and perfectly attuned to the Heartland spirit, Mining Poems or Odes is an absolute gem of a film.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic