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If you look at our official racetrack odds, you’d see that the short film, “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” is thought to be far out front for this year’s prize for Best Documentary Short. The odds that are displayed there are taken from the forecasts made by our Expert film journalists, Gold Derby Editors, Top 24 Users and the thousands of regular Gold Derby readers making their predictions at home.
But could another one of this year’s nominees sneak in and pull off an upset? Are there any other shorts that is more of a traditional fit for the Oscars? Below, let’s take a closer look at all five of this year’s nominated short documentaries, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
See Oscars Upsets: 24 Potential Surprise Winners To Watch For
“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You...
But could another one of this year’s nominees sneak in and pull off an upset? Are there any other shorts that is more of a traditional fit for the Oscars? Below, let’s take a closer look at all five of this year’s nominated short documentaries, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
See Oscars Upsets: 24 Potential Surprise Winners To Watch For
“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You...
- 2/9/2020
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
“Pictures are for entertainment — messages should be delivered by Western Union.” The line has been variously attributed to half a dozen old-school Hollywood producers, from Samuel Goldwyn to Frank Capra, but no matter who said it, the sentiment captures how classic studio types endeavored to separate political statements from popular cinema. In recent years, however, pundits have been pressuring the Academy to do just the opposite — to become more activist through its awards — and rather than actually changing, the organization seems to have realized that the documentary shorts category is the easiest way to take a stand, typically awarding important messages over exceptional moviemaking. Sometimes the two coincide. , although it’s unlikely that anyone would mistake them for entertainment.
Certainly, the folks at Netflix don’t have any such illusions about John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson’s wrenching kids-in-peril short “Life Overtakes Me,” whereas the film’s “Oscar-worthiness” was almost...
Certainly, the folks at Netflix don’t have any such illusions about John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson’s wrenching kids-in-peril short “Life Overtakes Me,” whereas the film’s “Oscar-worthiness” was almost...
- 2/8/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
As has been the case for the last few years, the 2020 Oscar nominees in the Best Documentary Short category are a remarkable bunch, and TheWrap gathered the filmmakers behind them to speak on Tuesday about the work that went into exploring such tough subjects.
Possibly the most sensitive topic touched on in this year’s field was that of Resignation Syndrome, a fairly new psychological case that has seen hundreds of traumatized refugee children become so mentally unwell that they fall into a comatose state for months or even years. In “Life Overtakes Me,” director-producers Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas managed to earn the trust of three refugee families with children in such a state and explored how they handle such a difficult situation while fighting to retain their asylum status in Sweden.
Also Read: How 'Joker' Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir Used 'Macho Chords' to Get Inside the Character's Head
Samuelson...
Possibly the most sensitive topic touched on in this year’s field was that of Resignation Syndrome, a fairly new psychological case that has seen hundreds of traumatized refugee children become so mentally unwell that they fall into a comatose state for months or even years. In “Life Overtakes Me,” director-producers Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas managed to earn the trust of three refugee families with children in such a state and explored how they handle such a difficult situation while fighting to retain their asylum status in Sweden.
Also Read: How 'Joker' Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir Used 'Macho Chords' to Get Inside the Character's Head
Samuelson...
- 1/29/2020
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
![Laura Nix in Inventing Tomorrow (2018)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTg1OTg5ODE3MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjU2Njg1NDM@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,87,500,281_.jpg)
Non-fiction storytelling is well-represented in this year’s Oscar race. Five movies are vying for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, but many of the contenders for Best Documentary (Short Subject) are almost feature-length experiences as well. The Academy’s rules allow shorts to run up to 40 minutes; two of this year’s nominees run exactly that length, while the others are close to half an hour. By contrast, the longest animated short nominee is just under 15 minutes, while the longest live action short is 25 minutes. That’s understandable: The documentary form often demands more time to establish context, and this year’s nominees illustrate that challenge.
As usual for the category, all of the contenders deal with timely (and often troubling) subject matter through personal dramas from around the world. It’s a particularly strong collection of non-fiction filmmaking as well. Each nominee works around the traditional talking-head approach with vivid,...
As usual for the category, all of the contenders deal with timely (and often troubling) subject matter through personal dramas from around the world. It’s a particularly strong collection of non-fiction filmmaking as well. Each nominee works around the traditional talking-head approach with vivid,...
- 1/29/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Oscar-nominated documentary shorts are not now, nor have they ever been, a laughing matter. But the joke that gets told most often, which has a nugget of truth in it, is that they frequently represent the grimmest category of any given year at the Academy Awards.
Recent nominees have vividly, heartbreakingly illustrated end-of-life care, the opioid crisis, the plight of refugees, systemic racism in the criminal justice system, and the Holocaust. These are not, generally speaking, films that you can idly eat popcorn to.
This year’s nominees, which occupy their own theatrical program this week via ShortsTV, also tackle heavy subjects and will also make any halfway-present audience member ponder important issues of the day. And yet, somehow, they’re a little less brain-meltingly sad than usual.
Also Read: Oscar Short Nominees Discuss Creating Fiction From Bits of Reality
Which says a little more about the nominations from...
Recent nominees have vividly, heartbreakingly illustrated end-of-life care, the opioid crisis, the plight of refugees, systemic racism in the criminal justice system, and the Holocaust. These are not, generally speaking, films that you can idly eat popcorn to.
This year’s nominees, which occupy their own theatrical program this week via ShortsTV, also tackle heavy subjects and will also make any halfway-present audience member ponder important issues of the day. And yet, somehow, they’re a little less brain-meltingly sad than usual.
Also Read: Oscar Short Nominees Discuss Creating Fiction From Bits of Reality
Which says a little more about the nominations from...
- 1/29/2020
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
If you ever want to see an expression of pure joy, watch a video on Twitter of director Laura Nix and the stars of her short documentary Walk Run Cha-Cha as they listen to the Oscar nominations announcement. On tenterhooks, they hear the nominees revealed one by one alphabetically—Life Overtakes Me…St. Louis Superman…The alphabet almost exhausted and the tension excruciating, they finally hear Walk Run Cha-Cha announced, triggering an explosion of emotion.
The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times.
“There was whooping and shouting,” Nix acknowledges. “I think people saw that we were like normal people who just found out that we were nominated for an Oscar and it struck a chord somehow, but it was really exciting.”
The documentary shares the story of Paul and Millie Cao, a middle-aged couple in suburban Los Angeles who spend most of their spare time pursuing a passion for ballroom dance.
The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times.
“There was whooping and shouting,” Nix acknowledges. “I think people saw that we were like normal people who just found out that we were nominated for an Oscar and it struck a chord somehow, but it was really exciting.”
The documentary shares the story of Paul and Millie Cao, a middle-aged couple in suburban Los Angeles who spend most of their spare time pursuing a passion for ballroom dance.
- 1/23/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
When it comes to winning your office pool on Best Documentary Short Subject, think tearjerker and you’ll be close to mark. This year, the documentary branch of the Academy has selected 10 shorts out of 96 submissions to vie for the five final slots for the Oscars.
Netflix landed four entries on the shortlist, including New Yorker Nadia Hallgren’s “After Maria,” which follows three Puerto Rican women and their families as they seek shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic destruction in 2017; Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper’s searing “Fire In Paradise,” which uses first-hand footage from residents of Paradise, Calif. to recreate the terrifying timeline of the Camp Fire on November 8, 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town; “Ghosts of Sugar Land,” in which four Muslim suburban men near Houston try to make sense of the radicalization of a friend recruited by Isis; and veteran filmmakers John Haptas...
Netflix landed four entries on the shortlist, including New Yorker Nadia Hallgren’s “After Maria,” which follows three Puerto Rican women and their families as they seek shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic destruction in 2017; Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper’s searing “Fire In Paradise,” which uses first-hand footage from residents of Paradise, Calif. to recreate the terrifying timeline of the Camp Fire on November 8, 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town; “Ghosts of Sugar Land,” in which four Muslim suburban men near Houston try to make sense of the radicalization of a friend recruited by Isis; and veteran filmmakers John Haptas...
- 12/17/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
![After Maria (2019)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGVlYTU0NmUtNDFhMy00ZmRhLTlkMmQtMjVlYjM4NTYxM2IwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDg4NjY5OTQ@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR4,0,140,207_.jpg)
![After Maria (2019)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGVlYTU0NmUtNDFhMy00ZmRhLTlkMmQtMjVlYjM4NTYxM2IwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDg4NjY5OTQ@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR4,0,140,207_.jpg)
When it comes to winning your office pool on Best Documentary Short Subject, think tearjerker and you’ll be close to mark. This year, the documentary branch of the Academy has selected 10 shorts out of 96 submissions to vie for the five final slots for the Oscars.
Netflix landed four entries on the shortlist, including New Yorker Nadia Hallgren’s “After Maria,” which follows three Puerto Rican women and their families as they seek shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic destruction in 2017; Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper’s searing “Fire In Paradise,” which uses first-hand footage from residents of Paradise, Calif. to recreate the terrifying timeline of the Camp Fire on November 8, 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town; “Ghosts of Sugar Land,” in which four Muslim suburban men near Houston try to make sense of the radicalization of a friend recruited by Isis; and veteran filmmakers John Haptas...
Netflix landed four entries on the shortlist, including New Yorker Nadia Hallgren’s “After Maria,” which follows three Puerto Rican women and their families as they seek shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic destruction in 2017; Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper’s searing “Fire In Paradise,” which uses first-hand footage from residents of Paradise, Calif. to recreate the terrifying timeline of the Camp Fire on November 8, 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town; “Ghosts of Sugar Land,” in which four Muslim suburban men near Houston try to make sense of the radicalization of a friend recruited by Isis; and veteran filmmakers John Haptas...
- 12/17/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Tornado chasers, fencing, and the so-called “pet chicken from hell” were among the topics that entertained an audience during a recent screening of five New York Times Op-Docs in Los Angeles.
The New York Times Op-Docs had diverse themes, but all of them told stories that touched on either topical issues or human-interest stories. Take “The Last Storm,” the first documentary that was screened as part of the free International Documentary Association viewing event. “The Last Storm” centered on Mark Zabawa, a man recently diagnosed with lung cancer, who sets out to fulfill his longtime goal of chasing a tornado.
Although the tornado, which Zabawa and his new friend eventually find near the end of the documentary, presents plenty of physical danger — the wind becomes so fierce it’s hard to hear the subjects, while giant chunks of hail end up taking part of their car’s windows out — “The...
The New York Times Op-Docs had diverse themes, but all of them told stories that touched on either topical issues or human-interest stories. Take “The Last Storm,” the first documentary that was screened as part of the free International Documentary Association viewing event. “The Last Storm” centered on Mark Zabawa, a man recently diagnosed with lung cancer, who sets out to fulfill his longtime goal of chasing a tornado.
Although the tornado, which Zabawa and his new friend eventually find near the end of the documentary, presents plenty of physical danger — the wind becomes so fierce it’s hard to hear the subjects, while giant chunks of hail end up taking part of their car’s windows out — “The...
- 10/23/2019
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
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