1, 2, 3, ALL EYES ON ME | Omeleto

A teacher guides class. Ms. Leena is an elementary art teacher getting her students settled into class. Patient but firm, she deals with squabbling friends and disruptive kids, all while trying to keep everyone paying attention as she instructs and helps her students draw portraits of one another. But then a crisis suddenly engulfs the school campus, and Ms. Leena must use her rapport and authority to keep her class calm. But as danger encroaches, she must do everything in her power to keep her students safe, even as the worst unfolds around her. Directed by Emil Gallardo and written by Emil Gallardo and Derek Ho, this gripping short drama begins like a naturalistic snapshot of an ordinary, run-of-the-mill day of an elementary school teacher as she instructs and manages a class that's both adorable and understandably unruly at times. The almost documentary-style, naturalistic visuals and attention to details like gestures, expressions, and messy artwork immerse us in a warmly human environment led by Leena, who shows great warmth, patience, and empathy with her students, no matter what they throw at her. But the storytelling slowly reveals its prowess in building tension and uncertainty -- at first gently, as Leena notices a few suspicious men walking on the campus as she teaches, and then more urgently, once it's revealed just what they're there to do. The narrative then pivots, bringing us with a painful, intense intimacy into the classroom as the crisis unfolds. We're acutely aware of the children's growing fear, as well as Leena's slow realization that she and her students are trapped. The young cast of actors playing the students are all excellent, with an ease and natural appeal that captures their innocence, energy and vivid emotions. But as their leader, actor Farelle Walker's precise, empathetic performance as Leena is the heart and soul of the film, conveying the deep heart and fierce commitment that all great teachers have, as well as the series of realizations and decisions Leena makes with each increasingly desperate turn of events. She must use the rapport and trust she's built up with her students to guide them to safety -- but faced with the menace and weapons of the campus intruders, it may not be enough. Devastating and impactful, 1, 2, 3, ALL EYES ON ME recreates what has become a commonplace event in the landscape of current events, with an intensity and immediacy that refuses the detached objectivity of a news report. Instead, its intimacy of style gives viewers a palpable emotional grounding in the perspectives of those most immediately in danger. Putting us in these footsteps reminds us of the true moral horror of a school shooting: an environment where curiosity, security and growth should flourish is instead destroyed by fear and violence. We remember the children and teachers affected, if only because we can't forget their searing terror when confronted with what should be the unthinkable. 1, 2, 3, ALL EYES ON ME. Courtesy of Emil Gallardo at https://waterlightfilms.com.