- Jared Huizenga
Oscar-Nominated Shorts Open on February 8
Aside from foreign language films, each year the Oscar-nominated short films prove to be the most problematic for those who want to see all (or at least as many as possible) of the films that will vie for Oscar gold later this month.
If you’re one of those people, ShortsTV has your back. Starting February 8, the nominated shorts will be shown in their nomination blocks – Animated, Live Action, and Documentary – at theaters around the country.
In Minneapolis, the Uptown Theatre will show the Animated and Live Action blocks.
Animated
Animal Behaviour
Directed by Alison Snowden and David Fine. A support group made up entirely of animals (including a praying mantis that can’t keep a lover, and a pig with an eating disorder) meets on a weekly basis to discuss their shortcomings.
Bao
Directed by Domee Shi. Disney-Pixar’s entry features an empty nest mother coming to grips with change after one of her dumplings (literally) comes to life and grows up way faster than she’d hoped … much like her own child.
Late Afternoon
Directed by Louise Bagnall. An elderly woman splits her time between her vivid, but fragmented memories, which are sparked by things in her nearly as fragmented present day life.
One Small Step
Directed by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas. In this Twin Cities Film Fest alum, a young Chinese American girl dreams of becoming an astronaut – a dream fully supported by her father. As she grows up life happens, and the dream takes a detour.
Weekends
Directed by Trevor Jimenez. Set in 1980s Toronto, the story follows a young boy as he navigates the world while splitting his time between his mother and father following their very recent divorce.
Live Action
Detainment
Directed by Vincent Lambe. Based on actual interview transcripts from a 1993 case, two 10-year-old boys are detained and questioned by police about the abduction and murder of a British toddler.
Fauve
Directed by Jeremy Comte. Two young boys take part in a game where the object is to assert dominance over the other. While mostly harmless, things take a sharp turn when the pair finds themselves alone and in trouble in a surface mine.
Marguerite
Directed by Marianne Farley. An elderly woman makes a discovery about her nurse that not only forms a friendship between the two, but helps her come to terms with something she’s left in her past.
Madre (Mother)
Directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. While spending the day with her own mother, a young mother receives a phone call from her 7-year-old son who is on vacation in France with his father. The father has abandoned the boy on an unknown beach with nothing but a nearly dead cell phone.
Skin
Directed by Guy Nattiv. After a black man smiles at his son in a grocery store, a white man and his friends take action. Soon thereafter, a group of black men look to settle the score.