In today’s world, there are apps for almost everything and anything. For a woman trying to get pregnant, there’s an app that tracks your ovulation while another app gives suggestions on what to wear based on the weather. As far as dating is concerned, there’s a dozen of apps that are designed to help anyone find love…but is it artificial? Director Moses Ssebandeke might have one answer to this question with his short film, Artificial Romance. In the film, a young guy who downloads a dating app because he feels bored in his relationship. However, the app turns out to be more than he bargained for! According to a press release via Roundhouse, Ssebandeke “took inspiration from the world of online dating apps, for his Online Film Funded short. His film explores the feeling of disconnection and artificial feelings.”
Ssebandeke says he “wanted to make a comment on how people all meet these days via dating apps. I feel the human connection has become a commodity that is packaged and marketed to the masses – thus making it artificial. The idea of the ‘one’ has almost become genetically modified – fake and empty. I also wanted to go deeper and ask if the very concept of romance is artificial? Could romance be a way we humanise a basic animal instinct – our want/need to procreate. Can a man be faithful to one woman for the rest of his life? I hope this little short opens up that conversation.”
After viewing Artificial Romance, which stars Kalungi Ssebandeke & Kathryn Roth, I believe this short film truly showcases how strong dating apps can be. In some sort of way, rejection on a dating app can be detrimental and in the film, it literally killed two women that the main character denied. However, the short film also focused on how minimal the dating apps can be in comparison to human romance/connection. Is it worth an actual romance or human connection? For all the time the main character spent swiping left and waiting to swipe right for a woman, he could’ve been finding ways to enhance his “boring” relationship. In the end, I believe the dangers of the “Gauna app” made the main character accept his “boring” relationship because it was a REAL relationship. Check out Moses Ssebandeke’s Artificial Romance below and be sure to check out more from his production company, Lionstooth, by clicking HERE.
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Photo Credit: Moses Ssebandeke/Lionstooth