The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2016: Live Action (Video 2016)

The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2016: Live Action: Collective screening of the 2016 Academy Award nominated short films from the Live Action category.

“I love movies – all kinds of movies, and I take film very seriously – whether Iu0026#39;m enjoying what Iu0026#39;m watching or not. I also like to try and predict the results of the Oscars, which requires seeing a lot of movies. For all of those reasons, I was very happy to be able to catch the Shorts HD presentation u0026quot;The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2016: Live Actionu0026quot; (NR, 1:25). Below are brief reviews of each of the five films nominated in the u0026quot;Short Film (Live Action)u0026quot; category for the 88th Academy Awards.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Ave Mariau0026quot; (Palestine-France-Germany, 15 min.) – In Israelu0026#39;s West Bank, a family of Jewish settlers accidentally crash their car into a statue of the Virgin Mary in front of a small Arab Christian convent inhabited by nuns who have taken a vow of silence. The family, who is fighting amongst themselves, also has to deal with communication difficulties between them and the nuns – and the fact that the Sabbath has just begun – in their efforts to get home safely. With understated but clever comedy, this film brings to light the daily difficulties of Jews, Arabs and Christians sharing lands that all claim as their own. u0026quot;Bu0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Day Oneu0026quot; (USA, 20 min.) – In Afghanistan, a young female interpreter experiences an especially dramatic first day on the job working with U.S. soldiers. She starts off on the wrong foot by using the shower at the wrong time, then struggles to understand the expectations and procedures of her new environment. On her first mission with the squad to which she is assigned, she delays their march when she has to stop to urinate, sheu0026#39;s almost killed by an IED, she has to translate during a heated exchange between her squadu0026#39;s leader and an Afghan man who is a suspected insurgent and then she is forced to help the manu0026#39;s pregnant wife when she suddenly goes into labor and the first part of the baby to emerge is its arm. Written and directed by a former U.S. Army paratrooper as a tribute to one of his unitu0026#39;s former interpreters, this is a personal and powerful look at the challenges of modern warfare. u0026quot;Au0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Everything Will Be Okayu0026quot; / u0026quot;Alles Wird Gutu0026quot; (Germany-Austria, 30 min.) – A divorced father picks up his young daughter from his ex-wifeu0026#39;s house for a 24-hour visitation and then uses that time to finalize preparations to leave the country with her. He lies to and manipulates his daughter and others in order to bring his carefully-laid plans to fruition, becoming increasingly stressed and unstable and making his daughter more and more upset throughout this very eventful day. This filmu0026#39;s powerful testimony to the emotional pain of all parties when a marriage breaks up otherwise doesnu0026#39;t have much of a point. u0026quot;Cu0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Shoku0026quot; (Kosovo-United Kingdom, 21 min.) – Two young Albanian boys who are best friends try to better their lives in Serb-dominated Kosovo in 1998 during the Kosovo War. One of them saves his money and buys a bike that he may have trouble holding on to and the other is trying to make some money dealing with Serbian soldiers. As each boy gets caught up in the activities of the other, they discover that their greatest accomplishment will be simply to survive to adulthood. This film is a heart-breaking and haunting look at the toll that war and sectarian strife take on even its most innocent victims. u0026quot;Au0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Stuttereru0026quot; (United Kingdom-Ireland, 12 min.) – A young man who has a severe stuttering problem is involved in an online romance with a kind and beautiful young woman in another part of the country. When the opportunity arises for the two of them to finally meet face to face, the young man is nearly paralyzed with fear over how his speech impediment will affect the possibility of the coupleu0026#39;s flirtations turning into an actual love affair. This slight, but sweet and creative little film uses very little dialog to pack a surprising amount of character development and poignancy into its very short running time. u0026quot;A-u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e—————————-u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor more information on the 2016 Oscar nominees for Best Live Action Short, go to the following URLs:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ehttp://Oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-live-actionu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ehttp://www.shorts.TV/theoscarshorts/u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e————————————————–“