It’s a privilege to be able to see the Oscar-nominated shorts and thanks to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences for making them available to the masses through theatrical release before the ceremony on March 15 this year. The live action shorts are never less than interesting, if not wholly effective in their executions. This year is no exception, with some funny ideas playing like an extended skit, and some dramatic ideas creeping just short of overly self-conscious filmmaking. Still, these shorts take some big swings and if there’s one thing they all have in common, it’s that they could have all been edited down. Every one of them seems a little excessive in length, but they’re not deal-breakers by any means.
Here then are my takes on the five nominees with my favorite listed last.
THE SINGERS
Director Sam A. Davis and writer Ivan Turgeniv have placed their 17-minute story in one of those dimly lit, gruff taverns in the middle of nowhere where only macho men dare enter. They establish the mood of the place via heavy shadows, cigarette smoke, and grumpy faces with more lines than a map of California. They’ve gathered, seemingly at the end of a long workday at some wharf or loading zone in the vicinity, to stew, get blasted and glare at each other while trying to stay warm as it snows outside. Trash talk, woe-is-me stories, and profanity fill the air until one poor soul suggests someone buy him a beer if he can sing better than anyone else in the place. That brings out the singer in many a man there, surprising in talent and feeling, and soon, the short becomes a character-driven comedy. It could be the Academy winner though it does itself no favors by over-branding itself as a Netflix production from start to finish. We get it, Netflix, you’re in the Oscar game big time now, but a little humbleness might do you more good than your boasting.
JANE AUSTEN’S PERIOD DRAMA
The title of this 13-minute short has double meaning, as this fun effort from writer/directors Julia Aks and Steve Pinder tells of how Miss Estrogenia Talbot (Aks) gets her period in the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal from the strapping Mr. Dickley (Ta’imua). Soon, the whole household is aghast as these proper English men and women of 1813 try to not only figure out what a period is, but what to do about it. It makes for an uproarious parody of Jane Austen and all her SENSE & SENSIBILITY, although it feels like it could have been cut in half and been just as good a skit for SNL (Paging Colonel Angus!). It’s the only farce amongst the fare and it plays even funnier due to some of the very serious shorts surrounding it in competition this year. (Kudos too for its brilliant poster design – easily the best of any short this season.)
BUTCHER’S STAIN
One of the very serious shorts is this 26-minute contribution from writer/director Meyer Levinson-Blount. BUTCHER’S STAIN concerns Samir (a wonderful Omar Sameer) a Palestinian Israeli working at a supermarket in Tel Aviv. He’s well-liked, hard-working, and a handsome young man, but because he’s Arabic, some are not thrilled with his presence, especially after what happened on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and took 251 hostages. Posters of the remaining hostages hang on the wall of the employee’s break room wall and when they’re torn down each night, guess whom suspicions fall upon? This is a tough, heartbreaking study of prejudice, intolerance, and false accusations by fearful people living inside a powder keg. The short is well-acted, tense throughout, and doesn’t have any easy answers, but unfortunately, it drags. Again, some editing might have helped the storytelling here. Its gravity is apparent without the need to almost reach the category’s 30-minute time limit.
TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA
This 26-minute short is a futuristic study of a society that no longer allows kissing, even amongst married folk. Written and directed by Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh, their imagined future sees the act of kissing become a crime punishable by death. As if that isn’t strange enough, people now pay for things by receiving slaps to the face. Angine (Zar Amir Ebrahami), a rich, but hollow-eyed patron, shops compulsively to add some pizazz to her life, and shows the beat marks on her face to prove it, and in time becomes fascinated by a chatty salesgirl Malaise (Luana Bajrami) at her favorite store. Their flirtatious relationship soon invites trouble, and it won’t be too long before the jealous and competitive saleswoman Petulante (Aurelie Boquin) will try to oust Malaise no matter what. This short is beautifully produced with lush, black and white cinematography and moody sound design – at times it feels like one of those Calvin Klein commercials for Obsession from the 90s. Still, it’s a bit on the nose in its character names and its blunt portrayal of dehumanizing drama. Brave new worlds such as this can rub some the wrong way and this one comes a wee bit too close to delighting in its offensiveness.
A FRIEND OF DOROTHY
The short that worked the best for me is this one, written and directed by Lee Knight. This dramedy concerns a lonely old widow’s quiet life being upended when a teenage boy accidentally kicks his football into her garden. Dorothy is played by veteran British character actress Miriam Margolyes, and she has great chemistry with Alistair Nwachukwu as the teenage JJ. The elderly Dorothy soon realizes her young guest is interested in the dramatic arts and they become fast friends, talking plays, culture, the arts, and more. It’s a warm and wonderfully witty character study which should appeal to all the voters in the Academy, particularly the actors branch which is the largest voting bloc. Margolyes is perfect, as is Stephen Fry as a no-nonsense solicitor. At 21 minutes, it could probably have been even cut a few minutes shorter, but this one never wears out its welcome. And with all that going for it, it left me smiling, content, and believing this might just be the winner come Oscar night.
But no matter what wins, all of the shorts are to be commended for striving in such a challenging and truncated art form. It’s terrific to have access to them too and experience the lot on the big screen, a reminder that all kinds of cinema deserve to put their best foot forward in such a venue. (And yes, that means you too, Netflix, so thank you for making it available in theaters as well as on your streaming platform.)
