Back to Projects Action Short Film / 2025

Tiny Tussle

On a battlefield no wider than a palm, two rivals wage a silent war, and the smallest standoff becomes a fight for everything.

Where the smallest stage holds the greatest battle.

Tiny Tussle is a 2-minute action short, written, directed, and produced solo by Daniel Nxumalo.

Type
2-minute action short
Creator
Daniel Nxumalo
Production
Solo smartphone film
Festival
Lift-Off Global Network selection
Tiny Tussle poster
Production Information

Epic Scale, Minimal Elements

Tiny Tussle finds the scale of an epic in the space of a single hand. Two rival fingers square off across a palm-sized arena, and what begins as a flicker of movement escalates into a charged, cinematic confrontation, with all the tension, choreography, and consequence drawn from the most minimal of elements.

Shot entirely on a smartphone, the film is an exercise in pure imagination: no sets, no budget, no spectacle beyond what the frame can conjure. Working alone, with only a hand and the camera in his pocket, Director Daniel Nxumalo reaches for the language of the action genre, its stakes, its rhythm, its sense of the monumental, and proves it can live anywhere, even at the tips of two fingers.

As a one-person production, Tiny Tussle is also a statement of authorship: every creative decision, from concept to final cut, belongs to a single filmmaker. It is a reminder that cinema is not a matter of resources but of vision.

The film has been selected for the Lift-Off Global Network as part of their First-Time Filmmakers Festival.

If the embedded player does not load, watch the trailer on YouTube.