It’s that time of year again, as ShortsTV
once again brings all fifteen of the year’s Oscar-nominated short films from
the Animated, Live-Action, and Documentary categories into theaters around the
country. Get an advantage in your office Oscar pool, and catch up with all the
nominees before the Academy Awards ceremony takes place on Sunday, March 4.
Live-Action Shorts
Kicking off a politically-tinged collection of films, “DeKalb Elementary” (USA, 20 min.) is a tense,
claustrophobic drama based on a real-life 911 call made by a brave front office
worker (played by a terrific Tarra Riggs) during a
2013 school shooting incident in Atlanta, Georgia. Strong performances and the
sure, steady hand of writer-director Reed Van Dyk
keep the tricky material from coming across as exploitative.
The sad but
sensitively drawn “My Nephew Emmett” (USA, 20 min.)
focuses on a horrific moment in American history, the lynching of 14-year-old
Emmett Till in 1955 Mississippi. The film mostly avoids any depiction of the
actual violence, focusing instead on the hours just prior, as Till’s uncle Mose Wright (L.B. Williams) does his best to protect the
young boy.
The lone
comedy amongst this year’s nominees, clever “The
Eleven O’Clock” (Australia, 13 min.)
takes place during a therapy session that spirals out of control when a
psychiatrist meets his latest patient: a delusional man who believes he’s a
psychiatrist meeting his new patient. Hijinks ensue.
Impeccably
performed and beautifully lensed, “The
Silent Child” (UK, 20 min.) tells the touching story of a
determined social worker (played by writer and star Rachel Shenton) hired to
care for a young deaf girl born into an entirely hearing family who don’t know
how to deal with her.
Amid violent
tensions between Christians and Muslims in Kenya, a bus trip taken by young
Christian Jua (an excellent Adelyne Wairimu) becomes a powerful and harrowing plea for
empathy in “WatuWote:
All of Us” (Germany and Kenya, 23 min.).
Documentary Shorts Program A
The devastating “Traffic
Stop” (USA, 31 min.) tackles racism and law enforcement in
America through the story of Breaion King, a
26-year-old African-American school teacher from Austin, Texas. Pulled over in
a routine traffic stop by a white police officer, the incident ended in King’s
violent arrest. That event is captured by police dashcam
footage, which director Kate Davis juxtaposes with scenes from King’s everyday
life. “Traffic Stop” will also get an HBO premiere on February 19.
In my
favorite of the documentary crop, the deeply humane “Heaven
is a Traffic Jam on the 405″ (USA, 40 min.), director Frank Stiefel turns his cameras on Los Angeles-based artist Mindy
Alper, who opens up about her lifelong battle with
mental illness and depression to show how she’s been able to channel her
experiences into some truly stunning work.
The
heartbreaking “Edith+Eddie” (USA, 29 min.) chronicles the story of America’s oldest interracial newlyweds.
But what begins as a sweet human interest story becomes something much more
urgent, when a family dispute between Edith’s daughters threatens to separate
the loving pair.
Documentary Shorts Program B
“Heroin(e)” (USA, 39 min.) gives
audiences a look into the lives of three women on the front lines of the battle
against addiction in Huntington, West Virginia, the “overdose capital of
America.” Equally heartbreaking, angering, and inspiring, their stories could
easily could have supported a full-length feature.
“Knife Skills” (USA, 40 min.) chronicles the efforts of
founder Brandon Chrostowski to launch Edwins restaurant in Cleveland, an establishment that
ambitiously attempts to teach untrained, formerly incarcerated individuals how
to cook and serve high-end French cuisine.
Animated Shorts
Former NBA player Kobe Bryant’s creates an adoring tribute to
the sport he loves in “Dear Basketball” (USA, 5 min.). As a
film, it’s beautifully executed — no surprise considering Bryant was able to
hire veteran Disney animator Glen Keane to direct, and none other than John
Williams to compose the music. But the result leans toward self-indulgence, and
in the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp,
knowledge of the sexual assault accusations against Bryant leave a somewhat
bitter aftertaste.
A group
of amphibians explore a mysteriously abandoned mansion in “Garden Party” (France, 7 min.), a gorgeously animated
film with a delightfully macabre streak that’s right up my alley.
Originally
screening in front of “Cars 3,” “LOU” (USA, 7 min.) tells the funny and sweet story of a playground bully and his
encounter with the monster that lives in the lost and found.
Told through
evocative stop-motion, “Negative Space” (France, 7 min.) is
an unexpectedly emotional adaptation of a poem by Ron Koertge, about a boy who
connects with his father by learning to pack a suitcase.
Adapted from
the Roald Dahl book, the completely charming “Revolting
Rhymes” (UK, 29 min.) remixes several well-known fairy tales in
expectedly cheeky fashion.
This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2018.
