Every year, popular media whips up a great hullabaloo over the Oscars. However, it’s important to keep in mind exactly which aspects of the awards generate buzz: Who is leading in the Best Picture race? When will the next Harvey Weinstein temper-tantrum be? Is Bjork wearing a swan around her neck?
But sometimes, the side dish is better than the entrée.
As predictable as the parade of snobs and snubs may be, an equally reliable aspect of the Academy Awards is that ‘minor’ categories will be overlooked. This is particularly true for the ‘shorts’ categories—live action, animation, and documentary—which not only serve as important launching pads for future auteurs, but often feature talent and artistry that rival, if not best what is offered by the Best Picture slate.
Cinema du Parc will be screening this year’s Oscar-nominated animated and live action short films, and while there is no mind-boggling ‘must see’—Logorama (2009), anyone?—the diversity and imagination represented in the selections practically guarantee that something will catch your fancy. If not, have no fear—they’re shorts after all, and are thus decidedly quicker and less painful to sit through than the latest Adam Sandler film to which you were dragged by friends (or so you claim).
The shortest short is in the animated category, with PES’ Fresh Guacamole clocking in at just under two minutes. In creating the titular dish out of everyday objects such as light bulbs and baseballs, PES demonstrates not just narrative imagination but also technical skill, as transformations are accomplished with wizard-like alacrity. Similarly light-hearted is David Silverman’s Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” which follows the adventures of the youngest Simpson at the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, and features an escape sequence reminiscent of Indiana Jones, accompanied by a brilliant-as-usual score from Hans Zimmer.
Timothy Reckart’s Head Over Heels, in which an elderly couple navigate life together while holding completely opposite world views—one lives on the ‘floor,’ the other, the ‘ceiling’—benefits from a delightful premise, though the claymation is a little rough around the edges (it’s no Wallace and Gromit). And the current frontrunner in the race—take note, all those participating in Oscar pools—is John Kahrs’ Paperman, which has gotten a big boost in name recognition thanks to its studio Walt Disney Animation. This is not to detract from the short’s excellence, which unites a saccharine tale of love with a new animation technique that gives more control to artists and animators.
The clear personal favourite, however, is Minkyu Lee’s Adam and Dog. It is difficult to put a fresh spin on a story as old as Genesis, but Lee accomplishes this confidently, through brilliant Miyazaki-like animation. The lushness of the Garden of Eden is captured in breathtaking textures—every still could be a watercolour masterpiece. The power of the storytelling is particularly formidable when one considers that the film is absent of dialogue; here, Lee’s virtuosity speaks for itself.
The live action category features a Canadian entry, Quebecker Yan England’s Henry. The short shares many similarities with Michael Haneke’s Amour, nominated for Best Picture and practically guaranteed to win the Best Foreign category. In addition to being shot in French, the two each portray aging musicians as they struggle with mortality, and the physical and mental decline that inevitably comes—though Henry is decidedly more sentimental. Don’t expect a statuette for England however; a win would be a long shot, despite Canada’s strong overall record in the shorts categories throughout the years.
Other nominees include Bryan Buckley’s Asad, a snapshot into the life of a young Somali boy as he struggles for survival in a war-torn country, with a cast entirely comprised of Somali refugees. Tom Van Avermaet’s Death of a Shadow possesses several strengths: a high-concept sci-fi premise, a beautiful steampunk-inspired production design, and the star power of Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead; Rust and Bone). But the short that hit home personally was Sam French’s Buzkashi Boys, a universal tale of hope and aspiration, set in the impoverished strata of Afghan society and framed through sport (Buzkashi is the national sport of Afghanistan; think polo, but replace the ball with a goat carcass). Under French’s lens, Afghanistan looks stunningly beautiful, even if evidence of the country’s tumultuous recent history is apparent in every shot. In a perfect world, Buzkashi Boys would leave the Kodak next month with gold.
Our world is far from perfect, however, and strong buzz surrounds Shawn Christensen’s Curfew. The writer and director also plays the lead role, as a twenty-something whose life is, quite literally, saved by the chance call of his estranged sister and his sassy niece. This category has rewarded films that situate effervescent, often nihilistic humour in bleak contexts, so Curfew seems perfectly poised to take the crown.
To an extent however, who will win the statuette is a pointless enquiry; every one of these shorts displays merit, talent, and artistry—and each deserves much more attention than they will inevitably earn.
The 2013 Academy Award Nominated Shorts start Feb. 1 at Cinema du Parc (3575 Avenue du Parc).
