Countdown to Oscar Night: Shorts

The Oscars are early this year (February 9th)! So I better get started with the countdown. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, for the first time ever I have seen nearly all 15 short films nominated for Oscars this year. It looks like St. Loius Superman  is going to be nearly impossible to find, but I will certainly try. I will also provide links to the films that are easily available (some required a bit of digging). Here goes:

Best Live Action Short
Brotherhood
NEFTA Football Club
The Neighbors' Window
Saria
A Sister

Historically this is a category rife with depression and heartache. This year certainly isn't an exception. Story-lines range from religion tearing a family apart, kids with piles of cocaine, cancer, rape, abduction, mid-life depression, and teenage immolation. While powerful, these films certainly don't offer much of a pick-me-up so I don't recommend binging them like I did. I think Brotherhood will win because it is so undeniable beautiful, but for me none really came close to the power of Saria. It tells the true story of a group of young girls trying to escape from boarding school in Guatemala. Their tale is both triumphant and heartbreaking. Unfortunately it is the hardest of the films to find. I had a link but it is broken now.

My Ballot
Saria
The Neighbors' Window
A Sister
Brotherhood
NEFTA Football Club

My Pick to Win
Brotherhood

Best Documentary Short
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl) 
Life Overtakes Me (available on Netflix)
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha

I was a little disappointed in these films. They cover interesting topics but are not exactly told in very interesting ways. The one exception to this is Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl). The filmmaker takes a heartbreaking situation (being born female in Kabul) and frames it with a playful narrative (how to ride a skateboard). This makes the film accessible, but also allows the viewer a level of connectivity with the subjects that the other shorts lack.

My Ballot
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl)
In the Absence
Life Overtakes Me
Walk Run Cha-Cha

My Pick to Win
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl)

Best Animated Short
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

This one is a two-short race between Pixar's adorable Kitbull and Sony's timely and uplifting Hair Love. The others are pretty but also weird and sometimes boring. I thought for sure Pixar would have the category sewed up when I saw Kitbull on Disney+, but then I saw the little youTube video that could. Hair Love is perfect. The filmmakers are even inviting kids who were suspended for their dreadlocks to the Oscars with them. This award is theirs.

My Ballot
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Dcera (Daughter)
Sister

My Pick to Win
Hair Love