Oscar Predictions: The Shorts

These are the three categories I always find the toughest ones to call: Short Film (Animated), Short Film (Live Action) and Documentary (Short Subject). Here, in my first Oscar Predictions Post, with five days to go until the actual ceremony, I’ll rundown the three categories, including my should/will win picks.

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Nominees

• Day & Night (Teddy Newton)
• The Gruffalo (Jakob Schuh and Max Lang)
• Let’s Pollute (Geefwee Boedoe)
• The Lost Thing (Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann)
• Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Bastien Dubois)

These categories are the toughest ones to call because it’s tough to actually get around to seeing all the short films nominated. But considering the world we live in, with YouTube being such a huge part of our technological lives and the availability of many videos, we have been able to check these shorts out more and more now.

In this one I can only forsee two results, Day & Night or The Gruffalo. Both are remarkable, and since I personally liked Day & Night, the brilliant Pixar short that played before Toy Story 3, I’m giving my vote to that one.

Should Win: Day & Night
Will Win: Day & Night

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• The Confession (Tanel Toom)
• The Crush (Michael Creagh)
• God of Love (Luke Matheny)
• Na Wewe (Ivan Goldschmidt)
• Wish 143 (Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite)

I saw all five of these shorts in the same day, and it’s a pretty damn solid field of nominees. The ones that left the biggest impression on me, however, were Na Wewe and Wish 143. One is based during the time of the Rwandan genocide, the other is about a dying boy who’s granted a wish by a charity to pretty amazing results. My money’s on Na Wewe, for now. But I really don’t know how to call these races.

Should Win: Na Wewe
Will Win: Na Wewe

BEST SHORT SUBJECT DOCUMENTARY

• Killing in the Name (Jed Rothstein)
• Poster Girl (Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block)
• Strangers No More (Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon)
• Sun Come Up (Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger)
• The Warriors of Quigang (Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon)

A variety of stories here: a guy standing against terrorism within the Muslim community; a former-cheerleader-then-army-girl dealing with PTS after returning from Iraq; children coming from many places who have lived in poverty and war in a school in Tel Aviv; thousands of island inhabitants facing the effects global warming has on their slice of paradise; and villagers of Quigang, fighting for their enviroment after a chemical company has done them quite a lot of harm.

My personal pick would be Poster Girl, the one about the woman returning from Iraq. But if I had to guess the winner I’d say Strangers No More, the one about the Tel Aviv school, since their two makers already boast three other Oscar nominations each (two of which they earned together) and they’re now poised for a win.

Should Win: Poster Girl
Will Win: Strangers No More