From social justice to adolescent romance, this years Oscar-nominated shorts filmmakers dont take long to make their points.
Berkeleys own views of loss inspired the films exploration of love and grief.
I was terrified, but I wanted to talk about it because its also my home country.
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Eirik Tveitens Norwegian shortNight Ridebegins after a late-night mishap.
Things get hostile when the man uncovers that Ariel is a transgender woman.
The Greenlandic taleIvalufocuses on a young girl searching for her missing older sister.
From left,An Irish Goodbye,Ivalu,Le Pupille,Night RideandThe Red Suitcase.
Adapting a story centered around the sexual abuse of children was a delicate matter for director Anders Walter.
I wanted to create a film that was out of time, she says.
That was classic but also handmade.
I wanted to show the girls that it’s possible for you to have something magical without incredible things.
Strangely, before I even made the book I felt they could move, he says.
The animated short follows a boy searching for a home.
Like many of his other films, Joao GonzalezsIce Merchantsbegan with an image from his subconscious.
It was an image of a tiny house attached to a cliff, he says.
The short follows a father and son living on a house attached to the side of a mountain.
For me, stop-motion is all about those tactile qualities and imperfections, he says.
I had no idea this would be a film, the director observes.
I didnt even look at the footage [for 17 years].
Each year, I would just film it, put it away and just hope for the best.
Joining Rosenblatts latest in the short documentary category are two films from NetflixThe Elephant WhisperersandThe Martha MitchellEffect.
As a result, the presidents men deliberately besmirched her as an unstable alcoholic.
The Elephant Whisperersearned filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves her first Oscar nomination.
Its the story of a couple charged with raising orphaned elephant calves in a nature reserve in South India.
Human and animal interaction of a different sort constitutes the theme of another nominated documentary short,Haulout.
Marine biologist Maxim Chakilev studies walruses, which congregate in massive numbers at Cape Serdtse-Kamen.
Sometimes that line between human and animal was blurry.
You start to tune into what they potentially could feel.
The New Yorkeralso releasedStranger at the Gate, directed by Joshua Seftel.
It centers on Richard Mac McKinney, a Marine Corps veteran who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is a story I believe we need right now, Seftel says.
Its about America, and its deep problems.
But its also about hope.
