Sometimes, the reality of someone’s past seems like an impossible challenge to document on screen. The subject matter can be considered too difficult or heartbreaking for audiences to witness, despite a strong central character worth rooting for. In izidor, a short film inspired by true events, director David Kabbe finds a way to tell one man’s melancholic story in a way that leads with empathy and optimism.

To Belong is to Be Alive

In 1988 communist Romania, many civilians faced a difficult quality of life. Perhaps none are more affected than children with disabilities, whom the government takes away from their birth families and displaces them to various hospitals and care centers. Banished from the rest of society, these children grow up strictly within the walls of the Asylum for Irrecoverable Children. Sensing this injustice, one daring woman (Sarah Padbury) resolves to make a difference however she can by taking home 8-year-old Izidor (Iosua Barbu). Izidor suffers from a right leg deformity and he has been in the ward his whole life.

Watch the izidor trailer here.

At the beginning of the film, animation is purposefully used to depict the passing of time and horrid living conditions. Says director David Kabbe, “[It] allowed us to handle sensitive content with delicacy and compassion, yet still invoke the harsh realities of that life.” However, once Izidor is led out of the facility by the woman, the animation turns into a realistic portrait with actors and set pieces. This shift indicates Izidor’s new world, one of possibility, color, and hope. Having never ventured into the outside world before, Izidor is amazed by everything he sees. Eventually, the woman has to bring Izidor back to the facility where his vivid world immediately turns back into animation. Despite this, he carries with him a glimmer of hope. He sweetly shares a little piece of the outside world with one of his friends on the inside.

Takeaway

izidor turns a difficult topic into an artfully sincere homage to Izidor’s life story. The film makes its World Premiere at the 2025 Cleveland International Film Festival, running March 27 – April 13, 2025.