The early hours of Monday, March 5, saw the 2018 Oscar Awards ceremony take place. A total of 15 short films were nominated, spanning documentaries, fiction (though it would be more accurate to speak of Live Action), and animation.
Ultimately, the winners were the documentary Heaven is a traffic jam on the 405, by Frank Stiefel, the animation Dear Basketball, by Glen Keane, and the live action short The Silent Child, by Chris Overton. The latter is from the United Kingdom, being the only Oscar that did not remain in the United States.
This year there was no Latin American presence at the Oscars, curiously the same year that Guillermo del Toro, a Mexican director, won the Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture.
American short films have overwhelmingly dominated all the awards.
If we analyze the short film figures, including those that made the short-list, the United States wins by a landslide with 18 short films, compared to France with only three shorts, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany with two. Australia, China, and Canada had a single representation each.
In the case of documentaries, for example, all the nominees are from the United States, a change from recent years. Since they changed the award rules (now they can also qualify through festivals), documentaries from other countries began to be nominated. It has also become common to see short documentaries produced by Netflix in the nominations; this year they were Edith+Eddie and Heroin(e).
In animation it was more balanced, with two nominees from the United States, two from France, and one from the United Kingdom. In the case of live action, the British short won, competing against three from the United States and two French films.
In these two genres there has also been a significant presence of film school short films. The animations Cradle, In a Heartbeat, Life Smartphone are produced by the University of Southern California, the Ringling College of Art and Design, and China Central Academy of Fine Arts respectively.
In the case of live action there are also three student works: DeKalb Elementary, My Nephew Emmett, and Watu Wote/All of Us produced by UCLA, New York University, and Hamburg Media School in Germany.
Short film nominations are gaining increasing recognition, as demonstrated by the success of their theatrical distribution across the United States. Last year they grossed no less than two million dollars. This year they began distribution on February 9, through ShortsTV.
To review these short films I have organized the lists together, including the award winner, the nominees, and those that made the short-list but were not ultimately nominated. This is separated into three blocks for each genre:
Documentary Short Film
Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film:
- Heaven is a traffic jam on the 405, Frank Stiefel (United States)
Nominees:
- Edith+Eddie, Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright (United States) – (Netflix)
- Heroin(e), Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon (United States) – (Netflix)
- Knife Skills, Thomas Lennon (United States)
- Traffic Stop, Kate Davis and David Heilbroner (United States)
Documentary short films included in the short-list:
- Alone, Garret Bradley (United States)
- Kayayo – The Living Shopping Baskets, Mari Bakke Riise Integral Film (United States)
- 116 Cameras, Davina Pardo (United States)
- Ram Dass, Going Home, Derek Peck (United States)
- Ten Meter Tower, Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck (Germany)
Animated Short Film
Oscar for Best Animated Short Film:
- Dear Basketball, Glen Keane (United States)
Nominees:
- Garden Party, Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon, Lucas Navarro (France)
- Lou, Dave Mullins (United States)
- Negative Space, Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata (France)
- Revolting Rhymes, Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer (United Kingdom)
Animated short films included in the short-list:
- Cradle, Devon Manney (United States) (University of Southern California).
- Fox and the Whale, Robin Joseph (Canada).
- In a Heartbeat, Esteban Bravo, Beth David (United States) (Ringling College of Art and Design).
- Life Smartphone, Chenglin Xie, (China) (China Central Academy of Fine Arts).
- Lost Property Office, Daniel Agdag, (Australia).
Live Action Short Film (Fiction)
Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film:
- The Silent Child, Chris Overton (United Kingdom).
Nominees
- DeKalb Elementary, Reed Van Dyk (United States) (UCLA)
- The Eleven O’Clock, Derin Seale (United States) (FINCH)
- My Nephew Emmett, Kevin Wilson, Jr. (United States) (New York University)
- Watu Wote/All of Us, Katja Benrath, (Germany) (Hamburg Media School)
Live action short films that made the short-list but were not ultimately nominated:
- Facing Mecca, Jan-Eric Mack (United States) (Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion)
- Icebox, Daniel Sawka (United States)
- Lost Face, Sean Meehan (Australia)
- Rise of a Star, James Bort (France)
- Witnesses, David Koch (France, United States)
The Importance of Short Films at the Oscars
It is also important to recognize the significance that short films hold for the AMPAS, both from an industrial and a more artistic perspective. The nominations are the most powerful promotional tool for new directors, who will find it easier to move forward with new projects and direct their first feature film. On the other hand, short films are also considered a genre in their own right, with theatrical screenings and VOD sales through Vimeo On Demand, Netflix, and iTunes.
The directors and producers who are nominated become members of the Academy just as with feature films. At the foundation of an industry as solid as the American one is the ability to generate and nurture new talent that will lead to future successes. Something the Spanish Academy should learn and stop having first- and second-class Goya Awards. In Spain, the Goya Awards for Short Films are the only ones that do not grant Academy membership to their directors and producers.
We will be watching closely; we will surely see great films in the future directed by some of the filmmakers who appear on this list.