Created mostly by a crew of high school students, “One Day” is a very “Kids,” “Gummo” like experience focusing on a group of teenagers preparing to go to their last high school dance, but booze, a little bit of speed and some angry gang members change these students’ plans so that they just wander about town, blathering to each other while making a few discoveries.
There’s not a whole lot in the way of story here. Rather, you’re just experiencing these students’ reckless night out on the town, which is a rather gritty neighborhood, not the best place for a group of teenage girls in nice dresses to be wandering around at night, but they end up fending for themselves alright. A journey is all it is and you feel that the events and stories told are coming straight from the heart of these teen filmmakers/actors.
The O2 (Oxygen for Creativity) program was created by a group of artists who gave a group of Montreal inner-city teenagers a chance to learn the basics in filmmaking. Eight months later, the dedicated few that stuck it out, challenged their teachers to let them make their own film together and the result is “One Day,” wonderfully shot and edited together and filled with fine performances from every one of the actors/actresses. It even has a catchy theme song, which is rare in a real indie film. The song has been stuck in my head all day and this is a good thing because I had “Who Let the Dogs Out” jammed in there earlier this morning. Don’t ask how that happened; just know that it was hell.
