ShortsTV continues to make all three of the Oscar-nominated short film programs (animated, live-action, documentary) available to audiences around the world. To find out where you can watch this year’s Oscar-Nominated Short Films, visit their Theatrical Release and On Demand pages.
Documentary
This victor in this category has always favored trends. At one time it was the Holocaust. Now the direction has been portraits about Muslim women. I’ve reviewed and ranked these from my “want to win” to my least preferred. Personally, I don’t have strong feelings that one should triumph over the other. I respect them all equally. Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) has the best title so I predict that will prevail. The results will be announced at the Academy Awards on February 9th.
Walk Run Cha-Cha
USA/20MINS/2019
Director: Laura Nix
Paul and Millie are in love. They met as teenagers in Vietnam but the war separated them. Years later they are reunited in California. The doc shorts category tends to favor heavy subjects with a strong message. This piece stands out because it’s the only one that’s blessedly upbeat and lighthearted. It’s simply about love. That is why it’s my personal choice.
In the Absence
US/SOUTH KOREA/29MINS/2018
Director: Yi Seung-Jun
Disaster footage from overhead shows a passenger ferry sinking off the coast of South Korea in 2014. 300 people — most of them schoolchildren on a field trip — lost their lives. The official state response is a jaw-dropping document of ineptitude. If the way this unfolds doesn’t make you angry, please check your pulse. Watching the victims’ families and survivors suffer the aftermath is heartbreaking.
St. Louis Superman
USA/28MINS/2019
Directors: Sami Khan, Smriti Mundhra
Bruce Franks Jr. is a Ferguson activist and a battle rapper who served for two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives. He is a political powerhouse the likes of which you have never seen. He fights for a bill critical for his community while contending with overwhelming personal trauma. This emotional account is unquestionably an admirable portrait of overcoming adversity but the coda at the end feels a bit like a rug pull. It ends on a depressing note. I wish the directors had focused more on the positives because there are so many to this man. P.S. The rap battle should be subtitled. Highlighting the poetry of his words would have emphasized why he won. I think he won. It’s not clear.
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
UK/US/Afghanistan/40MINS/2018
Director: Carol Dysinger
An inspirational tale about the status of Islamic women in Afghanistan. Over the past decade, this theme has frequently won the award (Period. End of Sentence., A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Saving Face). Noble and important but also unfocused. The title implies this chronicle will be about young Afghan girls who skateboard but in fact, this concerns a variety of topics including a basic desire to just read and write. The sports aspect is, unfortunately, a very small part. At 40 minutes it’s the longest of all the 15 nominees in the entire shorts program. It feels like it.
Life Overtakes Me
USA/37MINS/2019
Director: John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson
Many refugee children and their families have fled to Sweden from traumatic experiences in their home countries. Some still face deportation. Over 400 have become afflicted with something called Resignation Syndrome. This dissociative disorder appears to be a coma-like state. The experience resembles sleep. The documentary highlights a fascinating affliction but it begs so many more questions than it answers. Is this real? Why is this specifically happening to the refugees in this country? Have the parents asked their children to “fake it” to improve their prospects? Directors John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson don’t press for explanations. That’s frustrating.
02-03-20