You have to have your thinking cap on when you watch Katherine and you have to pay attention to details. Luckily I had the luxury of watching it twice.

It is the story of a young girl, Katherine, and how her father's departure from the home, affected her through adulthood.

Told in a bit of an abstract way the short film is a good example of how it is possible to stimulate your brain cells while watching a big screen. If the person next you is not piecing it altogether and whispering it to you, then you're forced to think for yourself. And don't miss a beat. From the Romeo doll falling to Tiger the cat, writer/director Mary Louise Stoughton has not missed a chance to make actions and events symbolic.

Shot in a haunting mood the piece has you anticipating that something awful will happen.

It adheres beautifully to the distinct beginning, middle and end story format. This is its great strength and had the writer tried to deviate the film would have been completely confusing.

Well acted the director has managed to illuminate the sublties of the characters a feat so important in driving this particular story forward. You don't get caught up in what Katherine is doing as much as you want to find out why she's doing it.

It sends a telling message just like the ads by the Church of Latterday Saints on the importance of men in the development of their young.

The film has won a Directors Guild of America student award and was showcased in the Kodak Emerging Filmmaker at Cannes.

Cathy Stovell