WINNER OF 2021 festival jury award: best live action short film

During the pandemic, a grocery delivery man is busier than ever. He receives orders, fills shopping carts and delivers packages, day in and day out. He navigates strange streets and knocks on unfamiliar doors. As he grows tired, a feeling of loneliness washes over him and he begins to feel defeated—until he suddenly finds a thermal gun pressed to his forehead.

Filmmaker Rongfei Guo won the Best Narrative Short award at Tribeca for her fairytale built in the isolating world of a viral pandemic. Dancing through the aisles and dreaming of a world after quarantine, GIRL WITH A THERMAL GUN deftly toes the line of representing the difficulties of COVID and providing pure escapism.