Lost Face is a 2016 Canadian/Australian short film directed by Sean Meehan, based on the short story "Lost Face", published by Jack London in 1910. The story was the first in an anthology of seven short stories published by London under the same title. The film was one of 10 films short-listed for the 2018 Oscar Live-Action Short category, and won more than 30 awards and nominations at film festivals in 2016-2018.
Based on the work by Jack London, the story takes place in mid-1800s Russian America (current Alaska). The lead character, Subienkow, a Polish fur thief, and his fellow thief Big Ivan, have been captured by the native American Indian tribe they had helped to enslave. As the Indians torture Big Ivan to death, Subienkow realizes his turn is next. He calls over the tribeâÂÂs chief, Makamuk, and barters with him to avoid the same ending. The story enfolds as a psychological play between Subienkow and Makamuk to determine Subienkow's fate.
The story is an adaptation of the short story "Lost Face", published by Jack London in 1910.
The film was conceived, written and directed by Sean Meehan, who was a graduate of film school from Western Australia. Lost Face is his first film. Meehan was also the cinematographer on the project.
Meehan stated that authenticity and respect for London's source material were important in the creation of the film. The one liberty he said that was taken was using Cree as the native language spoken in the film, because of the availability of Cree-speaking actors, in particular Gerald Auger and Morris Birdyellowhead. Filming took place in Alberta, Canada. The specific location of the filming is a Girl Scouts camp in summer. Filming took place around the time of the winter solstice, when there were limited hours per day for shooting, and Meehan stated that they lost an hour every day to "warm everyone up" because of the cold and the period costumes.
The film premiered in Australia on September 14, 2016, at the Canberra Short Film Festival, and in Canada on October 6, 2016, at the Edmonton International Film Festival.
The film was widely praised by viewers and critics. It was one of 10 films short-listed for the 2018 Oscar Live-Action Short category.
The web site reelreviewsoverbrews.com gave it 4.75 stars out of 5 and said "we'll be extremely surprised if Lost Face doesn't get an Oscar nomination. The web site filmsnobreviews.com gave it a B+. The site thetrashbash.wordpress.com wrote that it was "an impressively strong entry into cinemaâÂÂs ...independent market", praised the Native American cast, and Martin Dubreuil's performance, saying he "owned the film" through his portrayal of Subienkow.
On IMDb, the film had an average rating of 7.4 out of 10 from 151 audience reviews.