The concept of the video diary has been gaining traction the last few years, with many festivals nurturing this very experimental, very personal style of filmmaking. Shaima Al Tamimi implements this approach in a 9-minute short that uses her family story to make a number of sociopolitical comments.

“Don’t Get Too Comfortable” is screening at Vienna Shorts

The film implements a series of vignettes, including photographs of Al Tamimi’s grandfather and extended family, various types of footage, animation, and some very impressive images of the sky juxtaposed with buildings or other elements as she essentially narrates his story throughout the movie. The fact that he had 22 wives emerges as shocking this day and time, but his emigration to Zanzibar and his eventual return to Yemen are also quite impactful as parts of the story. Gradually, the filmmaker starts moving away from her family’s history, in order to...