A LOT PACKED INTO A LITTLE
BY MICHAEL ORDOÑA >>> The 91st Academy Awards boast a particularly strong field of short-film nominees in all three categories. The animated selections range from wacky animal cartoons to moving meditations on parenting. Live-action contenders feature an alarming number of kids in peril and an elderly woman gently finding her way to herself. The documentaries explore the roots of Nazism in America, racism, refugees, a sober look at death and a life-affirming project empowering women in Indian villages. Here’s a quick look at each nominee:
ANIMATED
“Animal Behaviour”: An often very funny visit to a group therapy session for nonhumans. Come for Lorraine the leech’s codependency issues and Cheryl the mantis’ relationship problems (“I’ve got a thousand kids … also I kill and eat my boyfriends during sex”); stay for the dark revelations from one of the group’s cuter members.
“Bao”: Seen by millions as the appetizer to “The Incredibles 2,” “Bao” is a fluffy-but-meaty (and sweet) trip through the entire cycle of parenting — through the prism of a woman making a steamed bun that becomes her child.
“Late Afternoon”: A wistful Irish film that wanders through the sometimes comforting haze of an elderly woman’ s mind, possibly afflicted with dementia.
“Weekends”: A distinctive-looking, handdrawn series of visits with a boy going from his mother’s to his father’s house on a schedule. The portrait of divorce captures the boy’s incomplete parts of the picture.
“One Small Step”: About a young girl’s dream to become an astronaut and the shoemaker-father who quietly supports her. Co-director Andrew Chesworth says that occupation served as a visual conduit for the famed Neil Armstrong quote: “It’s one of the most basic things you can do to support somebody,” he says of making shoes. “Then you can track the journey, literally, of your path to your dream by the steps that you take.”
LIVE ACTION
“Fauve”: A haunting French-Canadian film about two roughhousing boys who encounter actual peril, it feels like a short story about regret.
“Madre”: This Spanish short is a rarity — a true thriller that manages to upset and terrify in about 16 minutes. A feature-length version of this tense story of a mother discovering that her son is in danger has already wrapped.
“Skin”: Shifts from a bare-knuckles look at a child being indoctrinated into his parents’ culture of racial hatred to a very different, almost fantastical ending to make a point about judging people by their skin color.
“Detainment”: Based on the real-life murder of a toddler by two 10-year-old boys. With dialogue from actual police interview transcripts, the two young actors deliver breathtaking performances. The mother of the murdered child has strenuously ob-
jected (via Twitter) to “making myself and my family have to relive this all over again!” Director Vincent Lambe has apologized for not alerting the family before making it, but his film’s veracity has not been questioned. “Detainment” is profoundly disturbing.
“Marguerite”: An elderly woman receiving home care is inspired by her empathetic nurse to open up about what is possibly her greatest regret and to make peace with her past. “For me, it’s about embracing who you are, completely,” director Marianne Farley says of this quiet and lovely film. “It’s inspired by the difference between my grandmother’s generation and my generation — how we’ve come a long way when it comes to women’s rights and how we perceive sexuality in general.”