Love at First Sight (2011 film)
# Love at First Sight (2011 film)

Love at First Sight is a 2011 United Kingdom short film shot in Spain, and written, directed and produced by Mark Playne.

## Synopsis

The plot, told in 14 mins, tells the story of a lonely young man's attempts to attract the attention of the girl of his dreams.

## Release

The film premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in California and was selected by more than 200 international film festivals, spanning 5 continents, and winning 76 awards, including the Audience award at Newport Beach Film Festival California, the Shin Young-kyun Arts foundation award at Asiana Film festival in Korea and best début film at Rutger Hauer's "I've seen Films" film festival in Italy. The film was nominated for best comedy at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

## Cast

* Shane Zaza as S.L.Y.M.
* Francesca Binefa as Girl on Balcony
* Manuela Martinez Camacho as Lady with the red broom
* Luis Moreno Frenandez as Man on Balcony
* Nacho Pardo Moreno as Blind Girl's brother
* Carolina Diaz Rosada as Humming Vocals

The male lead Shane Zaza (lead in David Hare's Behind the Beautiful Flowers at London's Royal National Theatre) won two awards for his performance in this film, both in India: for Best Actor by the Gujarat International Film Festival, and for Best Actor at the Imphal International Short Film Festival. The female lead Francesca Binefa won Best Actress at the Gujarat International Film Festival.

## Production

The film was made with the production company 1st Sight Films.

After international screenings in 2011, the director took the project back into editing where he cut 15% of the film and re-scored two major sections of music. The film was remixed by the National Film Award-winning Sinoy Joseph at QLABS in Mumbai. The updated film premiered at the Jaipur International Film Festival in 2012.

The film was signed by Shorts International/ShortsTV for distribution and was released on iTunes in 2015. The film has screened nationally in India twice on NDTV prime TV and it was screened in-flight as "short of the month" on Asiana Airlines during March 2013. A 35mm print of the film with 5.1 sound has been selected for the BFI National Archive.

The film is also known by its Spanish title Amor a Primera Vista.

### Music

The music was scored in Sevilla and London by the composer Cato Hoeben. The music was recognised when the film won Best Short at the Parma International Music Festival in Italy. The music was rescored by the composer Rob Steel at the Sound of Silent Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre (Chicago) in Chicago in 2014 when the orchestra played live to the film.

### Cinematography

The cinematographer Graeme Dunn was awarded Best Cinematography at the Fargo Film Festival in the USA.

### Location

The film was shot in Spain at the seaside fishing port of Villajoyosa, the story the location's discovery was featured in the Ryan Air in-flight magazine in February 2015. The cafe scene was shot 16 km away in the mountain town of Sella, Alicante.

