[Ruby Hornet will be at Sundance Film Festival 2014 providing coverage of the festival’s 30th year. Keep it tuned to Ruby Hornet this week as we share reviews, interviews, photos, and more at one of the country’s largest film festivals.]

White Shadow
Director: Noaz Deshe
Rating: N/A
Release Date: January 17, 2014 (Sundance)

After witnessing the brutal murder of his father, Alias is sent off by his mother to live with his uncle, Kosmos, in the city away from their small shanty town. While he hustles drivers at busy intersections to buy various wares and technological parts, Alias faces torment from those around him due to his albinism. As Kosmos faces problems of his own, Alias finds a safe place to stay in a special home for albino children… until the unthinkable happens.

White Shadow deals with the rise in albino murders in Tanzania where witch doctors would pay large amounts of money for albino limbs due to their “magical powers.” The film isn’t some counter-active, social commentary on the practice; rather, it paints a fictional narrative around the unfortunate realities that Tanzanian albinos face.

White Shadow

The main problem I had with White Shadow was how it lacked direction for the majority of the film. The beginning of the film is a whirlwind of confusion, the middle begins to take form while still being intercut with flashbacks (flash forwards? side flashes?), and the final act throws it all together in an intensely violent rush. However, as gripping as the final act is, it’s not enough to make up for the confusion and slow moving of the first two acts.

The subplot involving Alias and Kosmos that made up the majority of the film began to gather steam, only to be displaced by Kosmos’ own narrative arc. In a way, the two are intertwined, both narratively and thematically, as they both face an unsure future as wanted men – Alias for his albinism, Kosmos for his debt. It’s a compelling duality that represents something deeper that the film could have latched on to if only it were a bit more focused and refined. As it stands, however, White Shadow is simply a shadow of what it could have ultimately been.