CHANGE | Omeleto

A man says no. Timi is a man on the brink, stretched thin by long work hours, growing stress and the pressure of falling behind. Absorbed by his own travails, every day he rushes past a homeless man who asks him for change -- and each day, he finds a way to evade the request. But when Timi's life starts to fall apart, he can no longer ignore what's right in front of him. What was a routine encounter soon becomes a profound question about life and how to live it. Directed and written by Fikayo Odunayo, this powerful and poignant short drama examines the way struggle, faith and compassion are interconnected, as one man overwhelmed by difficulty learns to see beyond his troubles and find fellowship with those who seem far removed from his frame of reference. The homeless man that Timi passes every day asks him for change, but Timi is drowning in his own considerable worries. He's confronted with scarcity in his own life: he feels the acute lack of time, security, money and connection. Even his fridge is broken and his roof leaks. But through his changing relationship with the homeless man he sees every day, he discovers just how much he has and what he can give. The muted, naturalistic visuals of the film establish an everyday world whose surfaces seem normal, busy and uneventful. But within Timi's insular world, he is isolated, working hard and disconnected from community for large swaths of time. He is understandably preoccupied with his problems. As he passes a homeless man on his everyday route, he never gives when asked for change. He explains he has no money and is stretched thin by long work hours that still barely cover his living expenses. As Timi, actor Fikayo Odunayo is both stressed and thoughtful, conveying the balancing act of being occupied with his own affairs but reflective enough to see the world around him. Each time he says no to the homeless man, we can see it weighs on him more and more -- the knee-jerk rejection becomes not such an automatic reaction. At first, it eats him up inside with guilt and defensiveness, but then he uses it as an opportunity to reflect, finding something within himself to offer. Compassionate and thoughtful, CHANGE is, on the surface, a simple story. There aren't any complicated outside obstacles; the major tripping point here is the persistent pinprick of Timi's moral compass and conscience. Its very ordinariness is part of the point: many people, like Timi, are struggling just trying to survive the difficulties and inconveniences of modern life, all of which can pile up until they feel overwhelming. But Timi's story challenges the idea that we need to have something to give something. Instead, presence, attention and acknowledgment are their own forms of giving, especially in a world that would rather look away from the unpleasant or the difficult. It can be painful to care in a world that takes so much from us to live, but even the smallest acts of care can be turning points that reverberate in our souls and ripple out to the world. CHANGE. Courtesy of Fikayo Odunayo at https://pursuitpictures.carrd.co.