I can see a future world that has no sense of reality or understanding of art and leaning towards a narrow-minded approach that will stop us from improving. When we have no books left to read or music to listen, we won’t be considered as contributors. We will just be flesh and bones who will come and go unnoticed.

“The Archivists” is an uplifting and moving short film about three musicians traveling through a dystopian future who find an old vinyl record with songs in it. They take upon the challenge to recreate it and it does not take long for them to figure out the right note or the lyrics. And as they (Noah Reid, Bahia Watson and Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) begin playing and singing it, you won’t even realize how you start singing with them too, which is a powerful feeling, you will come to know only after watching it.

Presented at TIFF 2020’s Short Program, Igor Drljaca makes an outstanding statement with this short piece – that nothing is more worthwhile than art; without it, we are just an empty and meaningless jar. As I had the opportunity to watch it more than once, I choose to replay it four times in a row, after which the film gets more poignant as the story unfolds, leaving no need for dialogues to deliver the beauty of music, the love for art in the three people who can literally make a difference not just for themselves but for you too.