Oscar-nominated shorts: See the trailers here!
On Feb. 10, this year’s Oscar-nominated short films are headed to a movie theater near you. But what can you expect of the mini-movies that the Academy has recognized this time around?
We’ve gathered the trailers for all of the nominated films, divided into three categories: Animated, Live Action, and Documentary. Read below for a brief description of each, and make your own judgment on whether you’ll be adding a little more culture to your weekend by taking in these stellar shorts. (If it’s Oscar-nominated, it has to be good, right?)
ANIMATED
A Morning Stroll (U.K./7 minutes)
Director: Grant Orchard
Synopsis: A quirky cartoon about a New Yorker and his early morning encounter with a chicken, which plays out over the course of a century.
Dimanche/Sunday (Canada/9 minutes)
Director: Patrick Doyon
Synopsis: A boy’s adventures on a typical Sunday toe the line between ordinary and extraordinary.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (USA/17 minutes)
Directors: William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
Synopsis: A freak storm (think Wizard of Oz meets Hurricane Katrina) sends a young writer into a colorful, vibrant world of magical books. Humorous, beautiful, and, at times, heartbreaking.
(You can watch the entire film here: http://vimeo.com/35404908 )
La Luna (USA/7 minutes)
Director: Enrico Casarosa
Synopsis: Pixar’s short tells the tale of a little boy whose Papa and Grandpa take him to work for the first time in an old wooden boat far out at sea, where he discovers his family’s most unusual line of work.
Wild Life (Canada/14 minutes)
Directors: Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Synopsis: At the turn of the 20th century in Calgary, an Englishman’s letters home are much more positive than the actual reality of his situation.
NEXT: Live Action
LIVE ACTION
Pentecost (Ireland/11 minutes)
Director: Peter McDonald
Synopsis: Damian’s passion for soccer clashes with the status quo when he’s forced to serve as an altar boy at an important mass in his local parish.
Raju (Germany/India/24 minutes)
Director: Max Zähle
Synopsis: After a German couple adopts an Indian orphan, the child goes missing and they realize that they are a part of the problem.
The Shore (Northern Ireland/30 minutes)
Director: Terry George
Synopsis: An uplifting, hilarious, and moving story about two childhood friends – Joe and Paddy – who reunite after 25 years when Joe’s daughter brings them together.
Time Freak (USA/11 minutes)
Director: Andrew Bowler
Synopsis: A neurotic inventor creates a time machine, but only travels to yesterday.
Tuba Atlantic (Norway/25 minutes)
Director: Hallvar Witzø
Synopsis: When 70-year-old Oskar is told that he has only six days to live, he wants to make things right with his brother who lives in New Jersey… across the Atlantic Ocean.
NEXT: Documentary
DOCUMENTARY
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement (USA/25 minutes)
Director: Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday
Synopsis: The story of James Armstrong, a barber and “foot soldier” in Birmingham, Ala., whose barbershop has been a hub for haircuts and civil rights since 1955.
God Is the Bigger Elvis (USA/37 minutes)
Director: Rebecca Cammisa
Synopsis: Dolores Hart was a rising Hollywood star who appeared in films with Elvis, Montgomery Clift, and Anthony Quinn, but abandoned her career to become a Benedictine nun in 1963 at age 23. Now she’s Mother Prioress of the cloistered Abbey of Regina Laudis.
This film will not be part of the Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012 theatrical release.
Incident in New Baghdad (USA/22 minutes)
Director: James Spione
Synopsis: Documentary following the July 2007 slayings of two Reuters journalists in Iraq and an American infantryman whose life was changed by his experiences on the scene.
Saving Face (Pakistan/USA/40 minutes)
Director: Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy
Synopsis: Every year hundreds of people – mostly women – are attacked with acid in Pakistan; this HBO doc follows several of these survivors in their fight for justice, as well as the Pakistani plastic surgeon who has returned home to help them restore their faces and their lives.
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (USA/Japan/40 minutes)
Director: Lucy Walker
Synopsis: Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsnuami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.
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