Though short-form filmmaking doesn't get much recognition by mainstream audiences throughout the year, when Oscar season rolls around there are always three good reasons to head to the movie theater and screen the films nominated for Best Live Action Short Film, Best Animated Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film. From a deep well of filmmaking talent (nominees can come from any country, with any runtime, genre or production budget), selecting just five films for nominations in each category seems incredibly difficult. But here is a brief take on those selected for the 98th Academy Awards.
Butterfly
Realized as a sort of impressionist painting come to life, Butterfly (Papillon in its original French) recounts the story of Alfred Nakache, a Jewish, French Algerian swimmer who competed in the Olympics at the height of the Nazi regime. Directed and co-written (with Marie Desplechin) by Florence Miailhe, this 15-minute, hand-drawn beauty manages to give us an understanding of a man's whole life in just a series of moments, from his childhood learning to love water with his mother's help to a dramatic moment on the starting block when he's prevented from competing. With personal and professional moments intertwined, the film serves as both a journey through a dark moment in history and a beautiful testament to a life filled with love and water.
Forevergreen
With polished, crisp animation, Forevergreen is the kind of wholesome animation one expects from feature-length family-centric productions. The dialogue-free, 13-minute film written and directed by Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears follows a sweet, orphaned bear cub finding his way through the forest on his own. To mark the passage of time, we see the cub grow into a bear but also witness his connection to a pinecone turned grand evergreen tree that keeps a sort of watch over him. Our bear is a curious, silly thing which sends him on adventures but also gets him in trouble; through it all, he's learning lessons and sorting out how to live in harmony with a world filled with both friend and foe. If a bit heavy-handed, Forevergreen nevertheless manages to be a family-friendly romp through nature, facing one's fears and finding connection in the most unlikely of places.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
The only stop-motion animation offering in this year's nominations, The Girl Who Cried Pearls is told as a flashback as a grandfather recounts a parable of his youth to his granddaughter. Directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (who share writing credit with Isabelle Mandalian), this 17-minute fable is a wonder of detail and spectacle as we're reminded that each frame is a moment captured like a photograph. Recounting his childhood in poverty, the grandfather tells his granddaughter, now accustomed to luxury and wealth, about scraping by until he discovers a sad young girl next door who happens to cry pearls, valuable commodities at the pawn shop nearby. But the greedy pawn shop owner now wants him to bring more every day, creating quite the predicament for a boy who doesn't want to cause someone pain for his own gain. Though the film ends on with a clever twist, it's the recounting of the story more than the fable itself that takes precedence, as the granddaughter learns what her grandfather is really telling her.
Retirement Plan
The most exceptional of this year's nominees, Retirement Plan is a sort of animated poem; at just seven minutes, it's also the shortest of the five nominees. Directed and co-written by John Kelly (with Tara Lawall), this gem of a story follows a man contemplating what his retirement might look like, the adventures he'll go on (or avoid) and all the things he'll do when he finally has "time." The voice of the man is provided by Domhnall Gleeson, and while he's clearly not at retirement age yet, what we see on screen is his older self doing all the things he hopes he'll one day make space for, from travel and cooking more to finally taking up a new hobby and so on. It's a pensive but lovely exercise that reminds us that time is not promised nor is it ever going to be enough, and that all the best laid plans are just that until we do something about them.
The Three Sisters
Perhaps the most whimsical and weird of the five nominees, Konstantin Bronzit's The Three Sisters is a strange little film that imagines the isolated life on an island shared by three sisters when a stranger arrives and changes their day-to-day in unexpected ways. He's a burly sailor and, well, these ladies have been living alone for quite some time, so they find themselves each drawn to him, changing their appearance and doting on him in ways they haven't had a reason to before. Without dialogue but with plenty of expressive animation, we come to appreciate these three sisters and their desire for more on this little island of theirs. Our dashing interloper is just that, however, and as the women have to face reality, it could be we're all headed for heartbreak. In just fourteen minutes, Bronzit manages to make us care about these women and their romantic fates, even if their world looks nothing like our own.
The Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films program is now playing in theaters.
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