You can't help but be reminded that love is the universal language in writer/director Adam Vincent Wright's five-minute feel good short film Welcome to the Ball, the story of a young girl, Sean (Nemis Quinn Melancon Golden) who sets out to learn sign language in an effort to make a new friend, the adorably shy Noah (Alexander Reno-Gaus). 

Having already picked up the Shoestring Award at the Rochester International Film Festival and the Jury Award for Best Short Short at the Queens World Film Festival, Welcome to the Ball is unquestionably the kind of short film that festival audiences love and that social media sends off into the land of the viral. 

Seriously, it's that enjoyable. 

It helps that Wright has cast two absolutely spot-on perfect young performances in Golden and Reno-Gaus, both of whom are irresistibly adorable and both of whom play out their roles with a sort of quiet little sweetness that makes you wish they'd befriend your own children. 

At a mere five minutes, Welcome to the Ball goes by quickly but gets its point across in such a way that the message is going to stick with you for some time to come. Lensing by Rafael Abreu-Canedo is warm and intimate, while a supporting turn by Stephanie C. Kernisan as Sean's mother is also quite winning. 

Welcome to the Ball is all set to screen at this week's ReelAbilities Pittsburgh Film Festival and there's simply no doubt the film will be warmly embraced by attendees. 

For more information on ReelAbilities Pittsburgh, be sure to visit the film's official website. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic