Watch: Luke Barnett’s Short Film ‘Ovation’ Makes Fun of Film Festivals
by Alex Billington
October 6, 2025
Source: YouTube
Ahahaha someone finally found a fun way to make fun of standing ovation clocks at film festivals. One of the dumbest film journalism trends of this day & age is the way someone will literally count the minutes during a standing ovation at the end of a film’s world premiere at major film festivals including Cannes & Venice. I even wrote an article once how entirely pointless & stupid this trend is, and how standing ovations actually mean nothing, and they usually happen because audiences are obsessed with celebrities (it’s objectively not a measure of the quality of the film or anything besides who is in the audience / why aren’t they leaving). This funny short called Ovation is a riff on this trend, featuring actor Luke Barnett during his Cannes Film Festival premiere of the film The Last Saint of Inishberry (entirely made up). It’s also a satirical answer to the question: what do these actors do during a 20 min standing ovation? Well, watch and find out.
Thanks to Luke on Twitter for the tip on this debuting online. Brief intro via YouTube: “An actor’s journey through a never-ending standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.” Ovation is a short directed by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Noam Kroll – he runs a filmmaking community website and provides advice – he also has a “commercial production house called ‘Creative Rebellion'”, and runs a filmmaking blog to inspire others. Follow him on Twitter @noamkroll or on IG @noamkroll or visit his YouTube page or Vimeo page. Written and performed by Luke Barnett (also of the acclaimed short The Crossing Over Express). With cinematography by Andy Chinn. Produced by Luke Barnett & Noam Kroll. For more info on this film, visit YouTube or read the article on Variety. To view more shorts (including animation), click here. Funny, right?