Short films are a crucial proving ground for up-and-coming filmmakers, and a very entertaining cinematic form for the audience. Almost anyone these days can make a short film, and there are lots out there, but the best ones are a superb showcase for new movie-making talent. The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences selects the best of the year and nominates them for Oscars, in three different categories.
The Documentary category of shorts is very competitive, stacked with highly competent takes on fascinating topics. Longer than news segments but more compact than feature docs, these pack a lot of enlightenment – and skill – into small packages.
This year's nominees for Best Documentary Short Film are:
In The Absence
(d. Seung Jun-yi, South Korea, 28 min.)
Documents the Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea, in which hundreds of people, mostly children, lost their lives
Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (If You're a Girl)
(d. Carol Dysinger, U.S., 39 min.)
The story of young Afghan girls learning to read, write -- and skateboard -- in Kabul.
Still from Oscar nominee Life Overtakes MeLife Overtakes Me
(d. Kristine Samuelson, John Haptas, Sweden, 39 min.)
Refugee children in Sweden enter a coma-like state as they face deportation.
St. Louis Superman
(d. Sami Khan, Smriti Mundhra, U.S., 28 min.)
Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist and battle rapper who was elected to the overwhelmingly white and Republican Missouri House of Representatives, must overcome both personal trauma and political obstacles to pass a bill that's critical for his community.
Walk Run Cha-Cha
(d. Laura Nix, U.S., 20 min)
Paul and Millie Cao lost their youth to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Forty years later, they have become successful professionals in Southern California -- and are rediscovering themselves on the dance floor.