London-based writer and director Nichola Wong talks about her latest short, Skinship:
“The story examines our obsession with electronic devices that promise to be a gateway to new connections, but may end up causing a fatal disconnect. While on an idyllic beach in San Sebastian, I found myself captivated by a group of twenty-something Europeans. Their fixation on their devices rendered them seemingly oblivious to the beauty that surrounded them.
“Set in the near future, the film attempts to explore the possible consequences of lives so taken up by on-screen communication that many of us are left virtually incapable of touching and communicating with those closest to us.
“The story is told through Mel, an alienated office worker who turns to a talented touch therapist to fulfil her need for flesh-to-flesh contact, and to help her re-learn the habit of touch – not of screens, but rather, of people.”