*SPOILER* Uncredited adaptation of A Home at the End of the World?

**CONTAINS SPOILER** (don't continue if you don't want to know what happens)

Just saw this short as part of the BOYS LIFE 5 compilation and was immediately struck by its similarities to the first part of the movie, A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Since this short was made considerably prior to the feature film, obviously the feature version had no bearing on it, but I can't help but think that this has to be a highly condensed adaptation of a portion of the feature film's source novel by Michael Cunningham.

This film substitutes situations with the "new brother" for those with the actual brother in AHATEOTW, but they're almost identical. The boy stumbles on his "big brother" having sex with a girl and stops to watch; the older boy isn't upset at being caught but only grins and winks at the younger boy. The older boy takes the younger one to his "secret place" where he imparts his wisdom and philosophizes on life to the boy. The older boy is suddenly, and shockingly, killed.

And, of course, it uses the same AHATEOTW device of a family of (near) strangers taking in a boy who's lost his parent(s?), for "as long as necessary" [paraphrasing the mother], where the boy then bonds intensely with the new older brother figure.

Anybody else think the similarities are too great to be a coincidence?