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
Butcher's Stain
Several films in this year's crop of nominees take place in or are about Israel, not a huge surprise given how large the region looms in global politics. In Butcher's Stain, a 26-minute film written and directed by Meyer Levinson-Blount, Omar Sameer is Samir, an Arab supermarket clerk in Tel Aviv. Each evening in the store, one of his coworkers posts flyers about the hostages held by Hamas; and each morning, those flyers have been torn down. As Samir, a talented butcher and generally well-liked coworker, tries to prove his innocence, he's also navigating a messy home life involving an ex, her new husband and limited time with his son. Moments of Butcher's Stain play like a thriller, and the film does well to create an intensity that's hard to look away from in its limited run time.
A Friend of Dorothy
Lee Knight's 21-minute film A Friend of Dorothy stars the great Miriam Margolyes as Dorothy, a grandmother who's recently passed and left her small but not insignificant estate to her grandson and a friend of no relation, a young man named JJ (Alistair Nwachukwu). In present day, executor Dickie (Stephen Fry) shares with her twit of a grandson, Scott (Oscar Lloyd) and JJ that Dorothy had changed some of her requests; in an almost farcical way, Scott is bothered that he won't get it all, but in flashbacks we learn that Dorothy and JJ had a genuine friendship and in particular, a love of acting. The short is a feel-good family drama in a small package, predictable as can be but heartwarming none-the-less.
Jane Austen's Period Drama
In one of the best punny titles of all time, Jane Austen's Period Drama is a hilarious way to spend thirteen minutes, especially for those of us who devour every new Regency-era adaptation and offering. Filmmakers Julia Aks and Steve Pinder take us back to empire waists and romantic proposals all for the sake of a good joke, this one being about getting one's period. It's a feminist romp where the filmmakers lean into the joke at every opportunity; Aks is Estrogenia, the middle of three daughters including older sister Labinia (Samantha Smart) and younger sister Vagianna (Nicole Alyse Nelson). When Essy's intended does in fact propose, he's shocked before she can answer to notice blood on her dress, sending him into an urgent crisis believing she's injured. Though the film is an, ahem, period comedy, the subject matter is all too familiar as menstruating is as taboo a subject as ever.
The Singers
Set in a dark bar with nary a woman in sight, The Singers is an 18-minute glimpse into that twilight zone between getting off work and heading home, when stopping by the pub for a pint sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered. Directed by Sam A. Davis and written by Ivan Turgenev, we're immersed in a dimly lit scene where this motley crew of guys find themselves with something unexpected in common: a song in their hearts. When one of the patrons can't pay for his drink, he offers to sing a song instead, and soon the other men find themselves moved to break out into a tune, as well. At times somber and sad, at other times moving and emotional, The Singers plays out like a bit of a talent showcase, each number more impressive than the last. The actors all do well to put their heart into their moment of music, and it makes for a pensive and enjoyable experience.
Two People Exchanging Saliva
It's always impressive when a filmmaker can realize a whole world within a short film, and co-writers/co-directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh do just that in Two People Exchanging Saliva, a dystopian French film where affection and intimacy are criminalized and payment for goods and services is rendered in slaps, of all things. Presented in dramatic black-and-white, the 36-minute movie introduces us to shopgirl Malaise (Luàna Bajrami)—again with the punny names—who's depressed and lost in this world lacking any real connection. When a similarly lost woman, Angine (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) enters the store, there's a spark of connection that scares them both just enough to see how far they can push societies boundaries. Vicky Krieps narrates this wholly original sci-fi drama about what we lose when we lose our connections to others.
The Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Films program is now playing in theaters.
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