Three days after the 90th Academy Award nominees were announced, we have theatrical playdates for the short films that made the cut. ShortsHD, a cable channel dedicated to short films, and Magnolia Pictures are teaming to put The 2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films in moviehouses on five continents February 9.
The 13th annual program — which includes all 15 live-action, animated and documentary shorts as three separate theatrical events — will be shown in more than 500 screens across North America, Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australia. A preview will screen two days earlier at the IFC Center in Manhattan. See the full program below.
“Short films every year are just an amazing way to see new things that are happening in film,” ShortsTV CEO Carter Pilcher said. “You can get a much better sense of new techniques, new ways of storytelling. The thing about going to watch a group of short films like the Oscar nominees, they’re the top of the heap. You’re seeing the young talent coming through with new approaches, and new approaches to old ideas.”
The 2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films earned nearly $3 million in worldwide box office gross, double the level from 2015. Of course, the winners for Best Animated, Live-Action and Documentary shorts will pick up their hardware during the Academy Awards ceremony March 4 on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland.
Here are this year’s short-film nominees:
ANIMATED SHORT FILM NOMINEES
Dear Basketball
Director: Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant
Synopsis: On the eve of his retirement from basketball, NBA legend Kobe Bryant describes his love for the game, which began when he was a young child. From his youthful dreams of glory to his 20-year career, Bryant describes how he and basketball have given each other all they have. His inspiring poem, DEAR BASKETBALL is stunningly drawn to life by veteran animation director Glen Keane and set to the music of legendary composer John Williams.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 6
Language: English
Garden Party
Director: Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
Synopsis: A luxurious villa and its grounds have become home to amorous, hungry and accident-prone frogs and toads. While they enjoy the bounties on offer, including caviar and macaroons, the amphibians uncover the whereabouts of the villa’s owner.
Country of Origin: France
TRT: 7
Language: French
Lou
Director: Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
Synopsis: Lou, the guardian of the lost and found box at an elementary school, tries to teach young bully J.J. that giving to the other kids will make him feel better than stealing from them.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 7
Language: English
Negative Space
Director: Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
Synopsis: Even though Sam’s father is hardly ever home because he is often away on business trips, he is able to connect with his son by teaching him how to pack a suitcase.
Country of Origin: France
TRT: 5
Language: English
Revolting Rhymes
Director: Jan Lachauer and Jakob Schuh
Synopsis: The Wolf from the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” reveals the true and twisted story of his adventures and those of other characters in his world, including Snow White, Cinderella and Jack, the climber of beanstalks. The film is based on the much-loved rhymes written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake.
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
TRT: 29
Language: English
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM NOMINEES
Edith + Eddie
Director: Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
Synopsis: In 2014, 96-year-old Edith Hill and 95-year-old Eddie Harrison are married, unconcerned that one is African American and the other is white. The newlyweds are forced apart, however, when one of Edith’s daughters, unhappy about the relationship, forces her mother to leave her Virginia home and move to Florida.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 29
Language: English
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Director: Frank Stiefel
Synopsis: Artist Mindy Alper has spent almost all of her 56 years combating severe depression and anxiety, using medication, electroconvulsive therapy and psychiatry to help her. Art has always been her most effective outlet, with drawing and sculpture offering her the tools to give voice to her fears and mental battles.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 40
Language: English
Heroin(e)
Director: Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon
Synopsis: Huntington, West Virginia, known as the overdose capital of America, sees an average of five to seven deaths from drug overdoses every day. Three women — a fire chief, a drug court judge and the head of an outreach ministry — are attempting to take back their community by using compassion to break the cycle of despair and addiction.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 39
Language: English
Knife Skills
Director: Thomas Lennon
Synopsis: In 2013, restaurateur Brandon Chrostowski is about to launch Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute in Cleveland. Aiming to become the best traditional French restaurant in America, the Edwins eatery is staffed primarily with men and women recently released from prison, who have only six weeks to learn the skills that will better their lives and propel the new venture to success.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 40
Language: English
Traffic Stop
Director: Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
Synopsis: In June 2015, a 26-year-old African-American elementary school teacher named Breaion King was pulled over by a white police officer for a routine traffic stop. The incident escalated into a violent arrest, followed by a conversation about race in America between King and another white officer while he drove her to the station.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 30
Language: English
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM NOMINEES
DeKalb Elementary
Director: Reed Van Dyk
Synopsis: Steven, a mentally unstable twenty something, enters an elementary school with a semi-automatic rifle. After he orders the school receptionist, Cassandra, to have the building evacuated, he holds her hostage and instructs her to call 911. With Cassandra as his go-between, Steven tries to navigate the troubled waters he has entered.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 21
Language: English
The Eleven O’Clock
Director: Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
Synopsis: A psychiatrist earnestly tries to help his delusional patient, but his efforts are complicated by the fact that the patient believes himself to be the doctor. With each trying to out-analyze the other, their session spirals out of control.
Country of Origin: Australia
TRT: 13
Language: English
My Nephew Emmett
Director: Kevin Wilson Jr.
Synopsis: In 1955, two white men invade the home of Mose Wright, an African-American preacher in Mississippi, to abduct his 14-year-old nephew, Emmett Till, who is visiting from Chicago. Emmett has been accused of whistling at a white woman, and Mose knows that his fate will be sealed if the men succeed in taking him.
Country of Origin: United States
TRT: 20
Language: English
The Silent Child
Director: Chris Overton and Rachel Senton
Synopsis: Libby, a profoundly deaf four-year-old, is the youngest child in a family who are all hearing. Unable to communicate but about to start school, Libby is assigned a social worker who teaches her sign language. Libby’s skeptical parents are reluctant to be involved, however, and pose a potential block to Libby’s education.
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
TRT: 20
Language: English, British Sign Language
Watu Wote/All of Us
Director: Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
Synopsis: Jua, a Christian living in Kenya, boards a chartered bus to visit a relative and is uncomfortable being surrounded by Muslim passengers. The bus is stopped by the violent terrorist group Al-Shabaab, whose members demand that the Muslims identify the Christian passengers.
Country of Origin: Germany, Kenya
TRT: 22
Language: Swahili, Somali.
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