The metaphor of the melting pot is usually seen as something positive. It refers to people with various backgrounds being mixed together in order to create a strong, unified population whose members are more alike than different.  But there is a hidden assumption in the process, namely that the transformed individuals will abandon their previous culture and end up resembling those already in power. “Assimilate,” directed by Brionne Olsen and shot using FiLMiC Pro, dramatizes the transformation in a way that may persuade you to rethink your understanding of the melting pot phenomenon.

More About the Director & the Film

Brione Olsen is a South African filmmaker and sound designer. Providing background on his movie, the director wrote:

“South Africa has a history of segregational identity where groups and individuals have been either forced to assimilate into a societal group or dismissed entirely. [My film] is the embodiment of what it means for groups or individuals to be disregarded by Governments, Faith based Organizations and Mainstream Society at large. What is deemed acceptable by the Conservative movement as traditional family values of role purity and portrayed as the only way society should live.

“Assimilate” in simple terms places the disadvantaged alongside the advantaged as they are stripped of their identity and replaced with a new, acceptable image. The short story makes use of simplicity to a much broader complexed discussion and to get the message across, I make use of racial dispositions as the base for the piece. The story has a broader representation of communities being marginalized from LGBTQ+ communities, to race and economic suppression.”

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“Assimilate” won the Best Mobile Short Film Award at the Toronto Independent Festival of CIFT July 2021, Best Sound Design Award at the Onyko Film Festival July 2021, and Special Mention at the One-Reeler Film Festival July 2021.

You can learn more about Brionne Olsen on Twitter , Instagram , and YouTube.

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “Assimilate” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.”