by Nathaniel R
Miriam Margoyles stars in "A FRIEND OF DOROTHY"
Each year after the Oscar shortlists are announced we try and dive in to the shorts categories (as well as the others that use a winnowing process). The shorts are undercovered in media but who can blame anyone given that it's difficult to know when where or if you'll ever have access to the titles. At any rate, there are some titles in each of the "specialty" Oscar categories that are easy to access. The Live Action Short category is often met with (deserved) criticism for being the "feel bad" category of the Oscars. Remember that year where every nominee was about something awful happening to a child?
But this year's finalist list has quite a lot of variety. This diversity of aesthetic purpose, emotional appeal, and genre, could well be an illusion. The Academy might pick pick the five heaviest and saddest shorts from this list of 15 but at the moment it's easy to imagine a nominated quintet that has a little something for everyone...
Zar Amir Ebrahim (Holy Spider) and Luana Bajrami (Portrait of a lady on Fire) star in the futuristic absurd "TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA"
Star Power
Having a recognizable star lead your short never hurts in this category even if it would be a lie to say that it always helps! For instance we were excited that Lesley Ann Warren might be back in the Oscar conversation this year with a short film called Olive, but it did not make the finals. As far as famous actors go there are three key films this season: Ado, a school-shooting drama set during a rehearsal of Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing, stars Jenifer Lewis. Meanwhile the memorably titled visually bold Two People Exchanging Saliva is led by Cannes Best Actress winner Zar Ebrahim (Holy Spider), costars Luana Bajrami (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), and is narrated by Vicky Krieps (of Phantom Thread fame). Finally international treasure Miriam Margoyles headlines a dramedy short called A Friend of Dorothy about a widow and a young black teenager who kicks a ball into her garden. To make that film even gayer, Stephen Fry co-stars!
'JANE AUSTEN'S PERIOD DRAMA"
Comedy
While the Live-Action category, like almost every Oscar category, preferences Drama as "worthier" there are occasionally laughs to be had in the frequently depressing lineup of nominees over the years. If we get any chuckles this year it will probably be due to A Friend of Dorothy (already discussed) or the punnily-titled Jane Austen's Period Drama. In the latter a rich doctor suitor mistakes his future fiancee's period for an injury during his proposal. We're not sure how comic the Finnish entry Pantyhose is -- it's about a couple preparing for a gala when they realize there is a hole in their tights -- but we admire that the director Fabien Munsterhjelm has stated that his goal is to "do comedy seriously and drama playfully".
"BUTTERFLY ON A WHEEL"
Musicality
Two of the shorts are tied to musical expression. Butterfly on a Wheel (not to be confused with the Pierce Brosnan film from the Aughts) is about a music student with OCD. The other musical entry is Sam A Davis' The Singers which is the only film on the list directed by a previous Oscar nominee. It's about an impromptu sing-off in a bar. Davis was previously nominated in the Doc Shorts category for producing Nai Nai and Wai Po, from emerging director Sean Wang (of Didi fame).
A fisherman's wife may not be all she seems in 'THE PEARL COMB"
Genre! Genre! Genre!
Oscar voters have a weakness for heavy traditional drama but every once in a while fantasy, horror, and sci-fi can sneak in. Two People Exchanging Saliva, previously discussed, is a futuristic drama about a world where you pay for merchandise by being slapped (!) and wherein kissing is outlawed (bummer). The other true genre entry is a period horror fantasy The Pearl Comb which has a mermaid on the poster. It's about a Cornish fisherman's wife who cures tuberculosis. An investigating doctor arrives determined to prove the miracle a hoax. It's been very successful at festivals hoovering up any horror prizes available within shorts categories as well as craft prizes for its cinematography and production design.
BAFTA winner last season 'ROCK PAPER SCISSORS"
Prestigious History
If a short made it this far towards an Oscar nomination, it has definitely picked up prizes. But which prizes? There are hundreds of film festivals in the world and some prizes are more prestigious than others. Yes, we know "prestige" is an amorphous concept and like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. But we'd argue that the following four entries have reason to feel pretty great about their reception thus far. Rock Paper Scissors, a medical war drama on the Ukrainian/Russia frontlines, is the most obvious member in this group in that it won the BAFTA equivalent of this Oscar category just last year. While André Hayato Saito didn't win the Palme D'Or for Shorts at Cannes this past summer for Amerala (or Yellow) he did compete there which the rest of the finalists can't claim. His short is about a young Brazilian-Japanese woman experiencing painful emotions during the 1998 World Cup. While his numerous awards are from less famous festivals his short also showed at key Oscar stops like Palm Springs and Toronto. Finally a Dutch drama named Beyond Silence, which is about two women with similar traumas who have very different reactions, won prizes at both Palm Springs and Tribeca. Both of those high profile festivals lean "Hollywood" and that helps with the Oscar voting set.
"THE BOY WITH WHITE SKIN"
Dramas Forever
Since we couldn't squeeze them into the other categories, we're throwing the remaining finalists into this all purpose category. This is not a dig; Oscar voters DO love pure drama best. There's a film about an Arab-Israeli wrongly accused of tearing down posters about missing people from the October 7th attacks called Butcher's Stain, a film about a woman in deep trouble for criticizing Russia's agression with her public art called Extremist, a Polish story about two brothers hiding their father's dementia from the public in Dad's Not Home, and a French Senegalese production called The Boy With White Skin about a father who entrusts his albino son to gold miners.
Which films do you have hunches about from the brief descriptions?
UPDATED PREDICTIONS PAGE
New charts for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature, and Live-Action Short.
(Doc & Animated Shorts charts coming soon)