Next up from this year’s Locarno Film Festival is an offering from the “Pardi di Domani – Concorso Corti d’Autore” section with Private Property.
Title: Private Property
Director: Deepak Rauniyar
Premiered: August 8, 2026 (Switzerland – Locarno Film Festival)
Runtime: 18 minutes
Maya (Asha Magrati) is a Nepali immigrant working the graveyard shift at a local gas station. She keeps a notebook at the counter with different phrases that she might need. Being that it’s the graveyard shift, the phrases range from “I’m calling the police” to “I will trespass you” and everything in-between.
One night, during her shift, an unhoused veteran named Danny (Nick Sencey), comes in to buy a cup of coffee. He doesn’t have the full amount to cover the coffee and Maya is quick to tell him to leave. When Danny returns, Maya hits the panic button and the police arrive. They advise her that if she’s going to be working alone overnight, she needs something to protect herself. Being that it’s America, the natural choice is to buy a gun.
Now armed, Maya is ready for whatever happens to walk into the store.
Private Property manages to pack a whole lot into its brief 18-minute runtime.
In the opening moments we see and hear the store television tuned to a presidential press conference discussing crime. We have Danny representing how America loves their service members while they’re fighting but then forgets about them once they return home. He’s also quick to remind Maya that the current administration doesn’t like her any more than they do him. Then we have the American glorification of gun culture. Whether for intimidation, self-defense, or both, waving a gun around is unfortunately just the American way.
Magrati is the anchor of the film, providing a quiet and reactive performance. Watching how she recalibrates based on who walks through her doors helps to keep the tension of the film grounded.
My issue with Private Property is that it keeps everything surface-level. Despite raising a ton of valid issues worth exploring, they’re just briefly touched on then dropped. Based on the ending, we can all assume what happened next. And that opens up a whole other can of worms ranging from self-defense laws, gun violence, and how minorities are treated in the legal system.
This is an example of a short film that needs to be a feature in order to fully flesh out its ideas.