2024 Oscar Nominated Short Film Showcases Open February 16

If you’re an Oscar nominee completist like The MN Movie Man (and as I attempt to be), there are few categories this side of Best International Feature Film more difficult to complete than the short film nominees.

Sure, you could scroll through your existing streaming services or sign up for new ones in hopes of tracking down the nominees, while hoping grainy bootleg copies show up on YouTube to fill the holes. Or you could simply snag a ticket(s) to take in the 2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films showcases presented by ShortsTV. 

Now in its 19th year, the showcases feature all 15 nominees from the Best Animated, Live Action, and Documentary Short nominees – each in blocks by their respective category – at more than 700 theaters theatres around the world beginning Friday, February 16.

 “This year, we at ShortsTV are celebrating nineteen years of bringing these magical short films to theaters around the world,” CEO and Founder Carter Pilcher said in the announcement. “Our commitment to championing the art form is stronger than ever and this year's Oscar Nominated Short Films promise an unparalleled variety of storytelling brilliance.” 

“These shorts, more than ever before, showcase not only a rich range of themes but also a significant increase in diversity, from female representation to the emerging international filmmakers from all over the world. Women directors, producers and writers within the short film categories have taken center stage like never before, including the majority of the directors in the Best Animated category being women. From captivating narratives to thought-provoking themes, join us in experiencing the cutting edge of filmmaking that is the world’s best short films.”

We live in a world where feature films under 120 minutes are rare, and where many “critically acclaimed” films push or exceed 180. So, when I suggest a short film (or a block of them), I often get a quizzical look that I know means something along the lines of “I don’t believe you can tell a full story in just a few minutes” or “I don’t like short movies/TV shows” … as if they don’t spend hours every day watching 15-second videos on social media.

2014 me was just as guilty of those kinds of statements. I thought the same things until I started watching short blocks at film festivals. Now, they’re the first things I put in press requests for, and they’re usually the first Oscar categories I finish every year. Storytelling is not only an art form, it’s a very difficult art form. Now, add the additional challenge of not only needing to tell a complete story, but needing to do it in a fraction of the time (succinctness and completeness are not always the best of partners).

With runtimes ranging from 4 to 37 minutes, this year’s nominees run a gamut of topics from a group of dancing, farting grandmas to book banning to crossing state lines to get an abortion to a Holocaust survivor’s letter to a pig that saved his life.

Animated Shorts (Estimated Running Time: 80 min.)

Letter to a Pig (2022)

Director: Tal Kantor

Synopsis: A Holocaust survivor reads a letter he wrote to the pig who saved his life.

Country of Origin: France, Israel

TRT: 17 minutes

Ninety-Five Senses (2023)

Director: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess

Synopsis: An ode to the body's five senses delivered by a man with little time left to enjoy them.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 13 minutes

Our Uniform (2023)

Director: Yegane Moghaddam

Synopsis: An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories on the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform.

Country of Origin: IRAN

TRT: 7 minutes

Pachyderme (2022)

Director: Stéphanie Clément

Synopsis: As every summer, Louise is entrusted to her grandparents for a few days of vacation in the country. The green grass of the garden, the swimming in the lake, the fishing with Grandpa, everything seems as sweet as Grandma’s strawberry pies. Yet this year, the snow will fall in summer and a monster will die.

Country of Origin: France

TRT: 11 minutes

War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (2023)

Director: Dave Mullins

Synopsis: Set in an alternate WWI reality where a senseless war rages on, two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a joyful game of chess. A heroic carrier pigeon delivers the soldiers' chess moves over the battlefield as the fighting escalates.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 11 minutes

*This year’s program will include two “Highly Commended” animation films:

I’m Hip (2023)

Director: John Musker

Synopsis: A self-absorbed cat, in a jazzy song and dance, proclaims his "hipness" to the world.  The world is less impressed.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 4 minutes

Wild Summon (2023)

Director: Karni Arieli and Saul Freed

Synopsis: A natural history fantasy film, following the dramatic life cycle of the wild salmon in human form. Narrated by Marianne Faithfull.

Country of Origin: UK

TRT: 14 minutes

Live Action Shorts (Estimated Running Time: 139 minutes)

Invincible (2022)

Director: Vincent René-Lortie

Synopsis: Inspired by a true story, Invincible recounts the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom.

Country of Origin: Canada

TRT: 30 minutes

Knight of Fortune (2023)

Director: Lasse Lyskjær Noer

Synopsis: The loss of a loved one, the grief, the risk of yellow skin, and a coffin, that is too much for Karl to face.

Country of Origin: Denmark

TRT: 25 minutes

Red, White and Blue (2023)

Director: Nazrin Choudhury

Synopsis: Rachel (Brittany Snow) is a single parent living paycheck to paycheck. When an unexpected pregnancy threatens to unravel her already precarious position, she's forced to cross state lines in search of an abortion.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 23 minutes

The After (2023)

Director: Misan Harriman

Synopsis: In this intense short film, a grieving rideshare driver picks up a passenger who helps him confront the past.

Country of Origin: UK

TRT: 18 minutes

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

Director: Wes Anderson

Synopsis: Chronicles a variety of stories, but the main one follows Henry Sugar, who is able to see through objects and predict the future with the help of a book he stole.

Country of Origin: UK, USA

TRT: 37 minutes

Documentary Shorts (Estimated Running Time: 140 minutes)

Island in Between (2023)

Director: S. Leo Chiang

Synopsis: S. Leo Chiang reflects on his relationship with Taiwan, the United States and China from the islands of Kinmen, just a few miles from mainland China.

Country of Origin: Taiwan, USA

TRT: 20 minutes

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (2023)

Director: Sean Wang

Synopsis: Nǎi Nai is my grandma. Wài Pó is also my grandma. Together, they are a grandma super team that dances, stretches, and farts their sorrows away.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 16 minutes

The ABCs of Book Banning (2023)

Director: Sheila Nevins

Synopsis: Over 2000 books have been removed from school districts in the U.S. THE ABCS OF BOOK BANNING follows the human toll the future will pay for depriving children of their right to read and learn about a complex world. Interviews with children and authors shed light on this ongoing dangerous precedent.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 27 minutes

The Barber of Little Rock (2023)

Director: John Hoffman, Christine Turner

Synopsis: The Barber of Little Rock explores America's widening racial wealth gap through the story of Arlo Washington, a local barber whose visionary approach to a just economy can be found in the mission of People Trust, the nonprofit community bank he founded.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 35 minutes

The Last Repair Shop (2023)

Director: Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot

Synopsis: Tells the story of four unassuming heroes who ensure no student is deprived of the joy of music. It is also a reminder of how music can be the best medicine, stress reliever and even an escape from poverty.

Country of Origin: USA

TRT: 39 minutes

You can order your tickets for the Oscar Nominated Short Films here.