This morning while killing some time browsing around Vimeo, I ran across this gorgeously-shot short by director Ben Briand. Two people are on a first date at a cafe, and the man asks the woman about her first love, and we see her reminiscences in flashback as she speaks. The combination of solid acting from the two leads and the beautiful cinematography (crisp in the cafe scenes, ethereal and almost lomo-esque in the flashback) captured me immediately, and I wasted little time tracking down more info on Mr. Briand. Going through the samples on his website, looks like he’s done a fair bit of commercial work in Australia, everything from Westfield Shopping Centers to high-end fashion, as well as a number of shorts (including a documentary following Cate Blanchett and Joseph Fiennes on a live theatre production). All of the clips show a similar strong sense of style, no matter how mundane the subject. Here’s hoping for more from Ben Briand, maybe a feature film at some point.

(The film credits the actress as Laura Gordon – can anyone tell if it’s the same Laura Gordon who’s in Saw V? I have no interest in watching the Saw movies enough to figure it out myself, but her resume on IMDb does say she’s Australian. I thought she was excellent in Apricot; would like to keep an eye on her career.)