The Oscars are March, 15th. For those of you who are interested in watching the Academy Award nominated animated short films, a number of them have been posted on YouTube for the time being--so I'd watch them sooner rather than later as they may be removed soon.
I had two opportunities to see these films in the yearly Shorts International program: at the local theater and at the DIA. Unfortunately, some personal life events took precedence so I had to cancel my plans and make alternate arrangements in order to watch the films before the awards ceremony. Fortunately for me, I was able to watch them through my membership with ASIFA/Central, on YouTube, and by attending the Ottawa International Animation Festival last year.
Beautiful film that tells a tragic tale. This paint-on-glass film did what a good historical docudrama should, it inspired me to do some research on the story behind the story--in this case, Alfred Nakache, an olympic swimmer who was sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Watch the fill movie here: Butterfly.
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Nice enough film, although a bit schmaltzy. The story of a bear and his tree... or is it a tree and his bear? Regardless, this was a well produced film. Though my initial analysis of the story didn't match the actual moral of the story. I personally saw it more as the story of a parent and the sacrifices they make to protect their children. Watch the full movie here: Forever Green.
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Retirement Plan had this Fired on Mars (2016)' quality to it. Or maybe Nick Fox-Gieg's The Orange (2009). What I liked most about it is that as the story progressed, the character continued to age. It wasn't a pie-in-the-sky daydream. It honestly reminded me of How to Train Your Dragon when Hiccup lost his leg at the end of the film. There were actual, lasting consequences to the events in the film. It was very refreshing. Watch the full movie here: Retirement Plan.
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The Girl Who Cried Pearls
I'm assuming that this film will be on the NFB's website and YouTube channel soon, so I recommend keeping an eye on their website or the YouTube channel so you can watch this film as soon as it goes live. Fortunately for me, I got to see this film at last year's Ottawa International Animation Festival. It was a solid production and, much like the NFB's Madame Tutli-Putli (2007), it integrated stop-motion with some non-standard digital and practical effects. I highly recommend watching the following two-minute documentary where the Technical Director describes how they merged 3d CG animation with the stop motion animation. You can see it here on the NFB YouTube channel.
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The Three Sisters
Unfortunately for everyone, Konstantin Bronzit hasn't uploaded The Three Sisters as of yet. Hopefully sometime in the future. Based upon the name and the trailer, I was actually expecting this film to be more in tune and tonality with Chekhov's story. It ended up being an interesting look at human dynamics when routines are disrupted and with a very hopeful ending.
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All-in-all, this year's selection was pretty solid and very approachable. I'm looking forward to seeing which one takes home the Oscar. Congratulations to the nominees.
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