Short of the Week
Tomorrow opens the next stage of voting for the Academy Awards. From 15 film shortlists, 5 entries from each of the Animation, Documentary, and Live-Action Short Subject categories will move on to the big event itself as official nominees.
***YOU CAN NOW VIEW THE NOMINEES HERE***
Last month we covered the shortlists. Since publishing, several of the films that were previously unavailable have come online for promotional release, hoping to drive buzz for the voting tomorrow. We’ve updated that article with the latest links, and, with the announcement to be made Feb 8th, get your watching in now—after that date, several of the films will be made unavailable once again.
With this post we’re going to do something different, rather than covering the contenders, prognosticating the nominees, or picking ultimate winners, we’re going to pretend as though we’re Oscar voters and plant our flag with the films we think should be nominated. Picking 5 films per category our Senior Programmers, Rob Munday, Céline Roustan, and Jason Sondhi imagine their perfect nominee lineup. Let’s dive in.
Best Animated Short Film
Bestia
Dir. Hugo Covarrubias
Set in ’70s Chile and featuring characters with porcelain, doll-like heads, Bestia is undoubtedly the strangest film on the shortlist, but it’s that uniqueness that really sets it apart. We often talk about short film being a testing ground for “bigger” projects, but Bestia is a piece that feels totally at home in the shorter format. You couldn’t imagine this working over a longer duration, but at 16-minutes it’s perfect.
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Navozande, le musicien (Navozande, the musician)
Dir. Reza Riahi
Highlighted as an S/W fav when we ran through the initial 15-film shortlist back in December, co-founder Jason Sondhi described this short as “the sort of experience that reminds you why you love short film” and it’s easy to see why. A novel paper-cut animation set in ancient Persia, the film possesses an epic quality that means it feels both contemporary and timeless at the same time.
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Robin Robin
Dir. Dan Ojari & Mikey Please
Set to become a family favourite in households all over the world, alums Ojari (Slow Derek) and Please (The Eagleman Stag & Marilyn Myller) have created something truly magical with stop-motion special Robin Robin. Featuring that Aardman stamp of quality, this tale of an orphaned robin adopted by a family of mice will warm the hearts of young and old, while also blowing the mind of anyone with a love for the meticulous, hands-on craft.
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Souvenir Souvenir
Dir. Bastien Dubois
Winner of awards at Clermont-Ferrand and Sundance in 2021, Dubois’ heartfelt exploration of his grandfather’s time in the Algerian war is the perfect example of blending striking craft with a relatable and emotive storyline. Though focused on a very personal storyline, the universal themes of communication, trauma, and generation gaps make this a film with great universal appeal.
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Alberto Mielgo’s The Windshield Wiper – click on image to watch the film on YouTube
The Windshield Wiper
Dir. Alberto Mielgo
A series of vignettes orbiting the question, “What is Love?”, Mielgo’s slick style makes The Windshield Wiper a real standout in the Best Animated Short Film category. Having impressed with his work on Love Death + Robots and Into the Spiderverse, the Spanish director could well be adding another trophy to his awards case when the winners are announced in March.
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Best Documentary (Short Subject)
A Broken House
Dir. Jimmy Goldblum
In our round-up for the Shortlist, this film was described as “flawless” for its excellence in aesthetic, narrative, and thematic craftsmanship. Just a wonderfully balanced documentary that probes the human condition with uncommon depth.
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Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker
DIR. Ryan White
A fascinating portrait of a forgotten artist, Ryan White’s short film deftly balances the disparate aims of biographical storytelling and social commentary. A massive figure in early 20th-century advertising, Leyendecker is posited by White as an integral figure in gay history—a progenitor of the concept of “queer coding” via his acclaimed illustrations. The film is a good yarn on an interesting topic, and, via animation from Ornana, is presented with unusually excellent visual style.
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Click on the image to watch the film on YouTube
Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol
Dir. Malachy Browne, David Botti
A massive achievement that has quickly become the definitive document of a seminal event. The scale of its production and its deft interweaving of perspective and timeline is a perfect match for its subject, and the film will be long remembered as a landmark in the emerging genre of “Open Source Investigations”.
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Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
DIR. Christine Turner
One of the shortest of the 15 shortlisted films in this category, Turner’s piece benefits from its brevity. Getting right to the point, the film utilizes talking-heads and archival images to explore the macabre phenomenon where photographs of unfathomable acts of racial terror became collectible mementos, sold and shared proudly and brazenly. A straightforward historical examination supplemented with academic commentary, the restraint of the film’s design gives adequate room for the devastating power of its images, and its psychological themes, never overstated, powerfully echo into the present.
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The Queen of Basketball
Dir. Ben Proudfoot
In a category usually marked by heavy stories of extreme circumstances, there is something refreshing about the simple celebrations of excellence that production company Breakwater Studios, Ltd. has come to specialize in. Nominated for an Oscar last year with A Concerto is a Conversation, this film is of a piece with that one—an examination of Lucy “Lusia” Harris, an early star of women’s basketball and the first (and only) woman to be drafted by the NBA, the film is conventional and straightforward, but its unfussy presentation and the charming narration provided by Harris proves to be a winning combination.
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Best Live Action Short Film
Lakutshon’ Ilanga (When The Sun Sets)
Dir. Phumi Morare
Motivated to explore the “quiet heroism of ordinary African women”, Morare’s 14-minute film was inspired by a real-life incident in the life of the director’s mother. Set in apartheid South Africa in 1985, Lakutshon’ Ilanga is the story of a young nurse who goes to extreme lengths to save her activist, younger brother
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Les Criminels (The Criminals)
Dir. Serhat Karaaslan
If you’re looking for tension then look no further than Serhat Karaaslan’s Les Criminals. The story of a young couple attempts to try to find a hotel room to spend the night together, when they believe they’ve finally found a way to trick the system, their duplicity puts them in a threatening situation. Never sure which way the story will go – at times it feels like there are horror undertones at play – Karaaslan’s short is so creepy, you’ll find out whether you can hold your breath for 24-minutes.
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Les Grandes Claques (Like The Ones I Used To Know)
Dir. Annie St. Pierre
Managing to present an unforgettably heartfelt narrative from the perspective of not one character, but two, Annie St Pierre’s period piece presents an awkward Christmas get-together through the eyes of both a divorced dad and his confused young daughter. Finding the perfect balance between comedy and drama, the ups and downs of Les Grandes Claques allows the audience to be simultaneously entertained and moved.
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Seiva Bruta (Under the Heavens)
Dir. Gustavo Milan
Inspired by both the plight of a nation and a personal story, Gustavo Milan’s Seiva Bruta (Under the Heavens) leans heavily on immersion and authenticity to tell the story of an immigrating mother. Instantly enveloping its audience in its gritty tale, there’s barely time for a backstory as we follow its protagonist on a journey littered with risks. Shot on 16mm and cut in a patient, confident fashion, it’s an impressive and assured piece from a student filmmaker. (North American audiences can watch the film here)
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T’es morte Helene (You’re Dead Helen)
Dir. Michiel Blanchart
Genre films don’t usually get a lot of love from the Academy and although You’re Dead Helen is a short that defies simple classification, it also feels like a wild celebration of genre filmmaking. Playfully skipping through the worlds of rom-com, thriller and horror, Blanchart’s 24-minute short is a blast from start to finish and feels like a real departure from some of the more somber storytelling on the shortlist.
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