Miles Marti’s short film, Tears of Knowing, takes us back to the moment a child realizes adults aren’t perfect.
This morning, little Ava (Soleila Shea) is dropped off early at kindergarten by her father. No big deal for Ava, as she’s got a picture and a prized apple ready for her teacher, Ms. Price (Ana Price).
Not wanting to wait in the hallway, Ava sneaks into her empty classroom and puts the picture and apple on Ms. Price’s desk. She then goes to the cage of the class mascot, Gus Gus, the guinea pig, who is sleeping. Just as she tries to wake him up, Ava hears someone walking toward the door, and she quickly hides under her desk. What follows is Ms. Price doing the unthinkable.
Ava (Soleila Shea) picks up a hand-drawn picture for her teacher in a scene from Tears of Knowing.
“Not wanting to wait in the hallway, Ava sneaks into her empty classroom and puts the picture and apple on Ms. Price’s desk.”
In just seven minutes, we witness the moment in a child’s life when a respected adult betrays trust. Look, the event is not that monumental. No one is harmed…sort of, but clearly what passes for small to an adult is massive when it happens to a child for the first time. And filmmaker Marti captures it beautifully, to the point where it hurts us, the audience.
I love a truly short film that sucks us right in, makes its point, and then leaves us thinking and thinking. Fantastic emotional performance from Soleila Shea, who got the subtle emotional beats down perfectly. Makes you never want to screw up your children in any way…but at least forces us to recognize that we will, and not even know it.
"…What follows is Ms. Price doing the unthinkable."
