FICTIONAL SHORT

STORIES

The Hare and the Tortoise

There was once a hare who was friends with a tortoise. One day, he challenged the tortoise to a race.
Seeing how slow the tortoise was going, the hare thought he’d win this easily. So, he took a nap while the
tortoise kept on going. When the hare woke, he saw that the tortoise was already at the finish line. Much
to his chagrin, the tortoise won the race while he was busy sleeping.

Moral of the story:

There are a couple of moral lessons we can learn from this story. The hare teaches that overconfidence
can sometimes ruin you. While the tortoise teaches us about the power of perseverance. Even if all the
odds are stacked against you, never give up. Sometimes, life is not about who’s the fastest or the
strongest; it’s about who is the most consistent.
 The Dog and the Bone

Once, there was a dog who wandered the streets night and day in search of food. One day, he found a big
juicy bone, and he immediately grabbed it in his mouth and took it home. On his way home, he crossed a
river and saw another dog with a bone in its mouth. He wanted that bone for himself, too. But as he
opened his mouth, the bone he was biting fell into the river and sank. That night, he went home hungry.

Moral of the story:

If we always envy others, we’ll lose what we already have, just like the greedy dog.

The Thirsty Crow

After flying a long distance, a thirsty crow wandered the forest searching for water. Finally, he saw a pot
half-filled with water. He tried to drink from it, but his beak wasn’t long enough to reach the water inside.
He then saw pebbles on the ground, and one by one, he put them in the pot until the water rose to the
brim. The crow then hastily drank from it and quenched his thirst.

Moral of the story:

If there’s a will, there’s a way. Every problem has a solution if we look hard and don’t give up.
 Lazy John

There was a boy named John who was so lazy he couldn’t even change his clothes. One day, he saw the
apple tree in their yard was full of fruits. He wanted to eat some apples, but he was too lazy to climb the
tree and take the fruits. So he lay down underneath the tree and waited for the fruits to fall off. John
waited until he was starving, but the apples never fell.

Moral of the story:

Laziness can get you nowhere. If you want something, you need to work hard for it.

The Fox and The Grapes

Once, there was a hungry fox who stumbled upon a vineyard. After seeing the round, juicy grapes hanging
in a bunch, the fox drooled. But no matter how high he jumped, he couldn’t reach for it. So he told
himself that it was probably sour and left. That night, he had to sleep on an empty stomach.

Moral of the Story:

Most of us tend to act like the fox. When we want something but think it’s too hard to attain, we make
excuses. We tell ourselves that it’s probably not that great instead of working hard for it.
 NON-FICTIONAL SHORT
STORIES
Instructions for Survival
(Directed by Yana Ugrekhelidze)

Georgia is a country sandwiched between the black sea and Azerbaijan. It has a long history of conflict
and annexation with larger empires including Rome, Persia, Byzantium, and the USSR. Instructions for
Survival focuses on one arm of this hatred: Transphobia.

Alexander is a transgender Georgian trying to live his life. He and his wife were forced to move and hide
when they first married, and now -with the Georgian state taking an official and violent stance against all
queer individuals- they seek to flee the country for fear for their lives.

This documentary doesn’t intrude to the point of pure voyeurism like many similar films. Every shot has
meaning. Every shot has intention. Thoughtful, pensive, engrossing, and honest, Instructions for
Survival belongs in every queer documentary collection. Highly Recommended. Editor’s choice.
Searching for Gerda Taro
(Directed by Camille Ménager)

Born Gerta Pohorylle, Gerda Taro was a young but notable

photographer active in Spain during the height of the Spanish Civil
War and the first-ever female war photographer to die in combat.
Jewish in Nazi Germany and an outspoken leftist anti-fascist, she
fled to Paris after her arrest for distributing pamphlets. It was in
Paris that she met the man who would become a noted war
photographer of the mid-20th century, Robert Capa. There, the
two became photojournalists and lovers, working out of a dark
room in their bathroom.

Searching for Gerda Taro includes a solid hour of expert analysis

and discussion about the woman behind the photos. This
touching documentary addresses her more brutal works of war
photography. It is not suited for all audiences, but anyone
studying photojournalism or women in photography will want to
see Searching for Gerda Taro. Highly Recommended. Editor’s
Choice.

American Native
(Directed by Steven Oritt )

American Native is an in-depth documentary that dives into a

long-standing struggle along the border of New York and New
Jersey. In the mountains just thirty minutes from Manhattan, a
nation struggles for national recognition. Since their first attempts
in the 1970s, the Ramapough Indians have been petitioning the
Bureau of Indian Affairs for federal recognition.

This fantastic documentary is an absolute must-see for anyone

interested in Native American cultures and Indian law in the US.
Excellently researched, meticulously structured, and brutally
honest, American Native shows a clear sympathy for the long-
misunderstood Ramapough tribe.
 RadioActive Soldiers: The Oppenheimer
Aftermath
(Directed by L. Douglas Keeney)

Following the devastating bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which

hastened the end of the Second World War, the world was thrust into
what would be known as the atomic age. RadioActive Soldiers: The
Oppenheimer Aftermath powerfully captures the impact of this
emerging era through interviews with soldiers who survived the first
nuclear bomb tests as the US government raced to better understand
nuclear weaponry amidst the emerging geopolitical tension between
the US and the Soviet Union.

Chilling film footage from these nuclear bomb tests and firsthand
accounts from witnesses make this documentary a must-watch for
audiences wishing to learn more about this period in history and the
ugly truth that thousands of American soldiers were forced to learn
when they became human guinea pigs testing out the next generation
of weaponry. It is a pointed and well-crafted reminder of the lengths
people will go to when under a perceived or imminent threat.
Considering the world we now find ourselves in as the war in Ukraine
continues to rage, this reminder could not be more timely or critical.

The Great 14th: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai

Lama in His Own Words
(Directed by Rosemary Rawcliffe)

The Great 14th, which aired on PBS stations throughout 2022,

manages to give a novel look at His Holiness’ well-documented life,
precisely because it does not directly concern itself with his public
image nor frame itself through an editorial lens. Rather, it sits back and
lets the man himself tell the story.

Told in a brisk but elegant 80 minutes, the film revolves around a long
interview with His Holiness, supplemented by a breadth of archival
footage, including remarkable scenery of life in Tibet before the
Chinese invasion. Many scenes dissolve some of the distance we might
feel from him as a public person, giving us a sense of his personal story
through the images that flow from his own memory