Oscar Nominated Shorts 2023

I was able to watch all the 15 short films nominated for Oscars in 2023 including the live action films, animated films, and documentary films. While last year's slate felt subpar to me, these films, all released in 2022 nominated here were quite wonderful and reminded me why I love watching short films. The Oscars do a great job of bringing some to wider audiences but as I watched these (and a few more that didn't make the final choices) I wished we had a better way of showcasing these sorts of films in the way features are showcased. 

Animation

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

This film is filled with gorgeous animation and a Winnie the Poo style narrative which tells a powerfully inspiring story which perhaps isn't logical in a narrative sense but speaks to themes more personal and beautiful in a way that just reaches in and grabs our hearts. It is the most "studio" film amongst this year's nominations.  

The Flying Sailor

The shortest film in this slate, The Flying Sailor is packed with incredible animation, wit, and existential angst in such an explosive manner, no pun intended... well maybe a little. I loved the way the film took an astonishing true event and imagined the experience of it so beautifully. 

Ice Merchants

Perhaps the least accessible for me of this group, this dialogue free film still captured a beautiful relationship, suggested some heartbreaking loss, and whipped up some intense emotions in its short runtime. It is filled with beautiful hand drawn imagery and doesn't overstay its runtime. 

My Year of Dicks

Funny and poignant, a mix of different styles of animation, My Year of Dicks is bold and beautiful and just truly enjoyable. Personal and completely relatable, a lovely love letter to youthful lust and the pursuit of connection in the confusing time of stepping towards adulthood. Personally my favourite of the animated group.

An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It

The most surreal and meta of the bunch, this stop motion film works both as sharp humour and as Kafkaesque commentary on our workaday lives. It will make you laugh and think in equal measure. 

Live Action 

An Irish Goodbye

This is the story of two brothers whose mother has just passed away who are reunited and have to renegotiate their relationship to each other. It is as it is charming, poignant, and quite funny. It is the only one of this group that I felt would work expanded into a feature. 

Ivalu

While short, this powerful film tackles fascinating themes of abuse and colonialism in a story of a teen in Greenland searching for her missing sister. It is visually striking and emotionally wrecking all in its limited runtime. 

Night Ride

This might have been my personal favourite of the nominees in this category. It is light hearted while also touching some darkness. It is hilarious while also centring characters that are sidelined. Truly enjoyable all the way through. I'd watch this one over and over.  

 

Le Pupille

The biggest budget film in this group, the only "studio" film nominated, is surprisingly the most experimental. It plays with form and structure in delightful ways and is the sort of film that brings a naughty smile to your face. It will sit with you afterward and the charming nature of it belies the way it also explores some deeper themes. 

The Red Suitcase

One of the two darker films in this group, this story of an Iranian teen promised in marriage to an older man in Europe and the moment she has to make her decisions as she arrives the airport. It is perhaps interesting in how it finds some trepidatious optimism in its character's journey which is part of what makes it so powerful. 

Documentary 

The Elephant Whisperers

Beautiful and inspiring, this film about an older couple who help to raise orphaned elephants in India is the perceived frontrunner in this race and it is an easy film to love. Everything about it is lovely and a joy to watch. 

Hallout

For me this film about walruses in northern Russia and their plight as climate change destroys their habitat might be the weakest of this bunch. It is often stunning but it doesn't give us a lot to engage us while we watch it even thought it does a good job of communicating the tragedy that is unfolding. 

How Do You Measure a Year?

This darling little film shot by a father with his daughter on her birthday each year from when she was 2 until she was 18 is an emotional tearjerker even though it focuses on the rather mundane features of growing up. Nothing remarkably dramatic, just a lovely portrait of a young woman coming into her own and that in itself is remarkable. 

The Martha Mitchell Effect

This is the only "archive footage" documentary in this bunch and it tells the interesting story of Margaret Mitchell who was married to someone high up in Nixon's cabinet and was an outspoken supporter then critic of the disgraced president. She is completely captivating and its good to have this film keep her story from being forgotten. 

Stranger at the Gate

This is my favourite of the slate of nominated documentary films, a powerful, truly American story, that quite fortunately does not go the way you think it is going to go. It ends up being an inspiration and the film that brought out the most tears for me. It is the sort of film that doesn't blink from the difficult conversations yet reminds us of the power of love in humanity. A truly powerful film.