The 2020 Oscar Nominated Live-Action & Animated Short Films
Cincinnati World Cinema at the Garfield Theatre
☀ SPECIAL SCREENINGS - March Ticket Holders Only ☀
Sat, Oct 3 - Prg A, 4 pm Prg B, 7 pm
Sat, Oct 10 - Prg A, 4 pm Prg B, 7 pm
These screenings are private, no tickets for sale, assigned seating, advance reservation. Postponed – Sat, Mar 21 & Sun, Mar 22, 4 & 7 pm each day.
Friday March 6 — Sunday March 15
Six screenings Program A, Animation
Six screenings Program B, Live Action ~ See Dates & Times ~
You'll find plenty to love in the 2020 animated and live action short film programs – memories of childhood, dramatic thrillers, parenting, comedy, shifting emotional landscapes, friendship and love — great short films from truly talented filmmakers.
Several years ago, the esteemed film historian and critic A.O. Smith wrote:
"The Oscar shorts offer a more accurate, more complete glimpse of the state of cinema than the features. The shorts did not enter the world on a cushion of prestige or a vapor trail of hype, and they offer concentrated doses of visual ingenuity and narrative discipline.
"... the live-action shorts are characterized by realism and local knowledge, each offering moments of immersion in the particulars of individual or family life. ... their animated siblings explore the universality of film language ... a reminder of how expressive, how moving, pictures can be."
Smith's assessment is spot-on this year, as the Live-Action and Animated shorts have attributes many of their feature-length big brothers lack —
☀ women comprise 50% of the nominated filmmakers (60% when including the short docs);
☀ creative, thematic and ethnic diversity;
☀ global reach with outstanding works from Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, France, Guatemala, Tunisia and the USA, and even a polyglot creation from Canada-Tunisia-Qatar-Sweden!
EVENT DETAILS
☀ FORMAT: Two Programs – A (Animation), run-time 83 minutes, and B (Live Action), run time 102 minutes. The Oscar Shorts run from March 6 through March 15. Each program screens multiple times, offering flexibility for busy schedules:
• Same-day combo packages on weekends, including both programs
• Four weeknight single program screenings
☀ DATES & TIMES:
Special Screenings for March Ticket Holders Only:
Sat, Oct 03, Program A, Animation, 4:00 Sat, Oct 03, Program B, Live Action, 7:00 Sat, Oct 10, Program A, Animation, 4:00 Sat, Oct 10, Program B, Live Action, 7:00Fri, March 06, Program A, Animation, 7:00Sat, March 07, Program A, Animation, 4:00 Sat, March 07, Program B, Live Action, 7:00Sun, March 08, Program B, Live Action, 4:00 Sun, March 08, Program A, Animation, 7:00Tue, March 10, Program B, Live Action, 7:00Wed, March 11, Program A, Animation, 7:00Fri, March 13, Program B, Live Action, 7:00Sat, March 14, Program A, Animation, 4:00 Sat, March 14, Program B, Live Action, 7:00Sun, March 15, Program B, Live Action, 4:00 Sun, March 15, Program A, Animation, 7:00Sat, March 21, Program A, Animation, 4:00 Postponed
Sat, March 21, Program B, Live Action, 7:00 Postponed
Sun, March 22, Program B, Live Action, 4:00 Postponed
Sun, March 22, Program A, Animation, 7:00 Postponed
4:00 Screenings: Venue opens at 3:15, theatre seating begins at 3:30.
7:00 Screenings: Venue opens at 6:15, theatre seating begins at 6:30.
☀ TICKETS: • General Admission single tickets, available on all screening dates: $11 in advance, $16 at the door.
• Same-day Combo tickets, for both programs, weekends only: $18 in advance, $23 at the door.
• Student and Arts Wave discounts are not available for the Oscar Shorts.
• Advance sales cut off three hours before show time; thereafter tickets available at the door (unless sold out in advance).
Tix available online and at (859) 957-FILM.
☀ LOCATION: THE GARFIELD THEATRE, 719 Race St, Cincinnati 45202.
– Learn more
☀ PARKING & DIRECTIONS: Parking Map & OptionsGoogle MapDrone View Ample parking at affordable rates — 1,700+ garage spaces within two blocks ‐ Gramercy Garage (next door, enter via Race, 7th or Elm streets), Garfield Garage (9th St., next to the Phoenix) and Macy's Garage (7th Street). Another 363 surface lot spaces within a couple blocks, plus numerous on-street meters.
Other transport options include the Streetcar, Metro, Tank, Uber, Red Bike, etc.
☀ ADA ACCESS: We have completely revamped and improved ADA access, with a direct path to wheelchair spaces and companion seats (no outside transit, no ramps, no stairs). Individuals using walkers or wheelchairs should call ahead to let us know your screening date and time, (859) 957-3456.
☀ DRINKS & DINING: Across the street from the Garfield, you'll find the Butcher & Barrel, home of delicious shareables, salads, entrees, sides and desserts, plus excellent wine, craft beer and mixed drinks. Enjoy a pre- or post-film meal or coffee and dessert or relax at the bar.
• CWC patrons receive a 15% discount on their order upon request, excluding beverages. You'll need your online ticket purchase confirmation or ticket stub from the event – discount valid only for the date of attendance at the Garfield.
• Reservations are required, (513) 954-8974, and be sure to mention if you are dining between the weekend screenings.
• Hours: TUE-THS - Dining, 5-10 pm; bar 3:30 - midnight. FRI-SAT - Dining 5-11 pm; bar 3:30 - 2:30. SUN - Dining 5-9 pm; bar 3:30 - 1-pm. Check out the menu: thebutcherbarrel.com.
☀ QUESTIONS?
Please
or call (859) 957 3456.
FILM ROSTER ~ PROGRAMS A & B, with Synopses & Director Bios
~ PROGRAM A - ANIMATION ~ Total Run Time approximately 83 minutes.
Program content, time and sequence subject to change, all nominees will be shown.
SUMMARY
This year's animated shorts are artistically appealing, cleverly told (with some surprise twists) and emotionally effective – some invite smiles and warm your heart, others are heart-rending. Three of the five nominees are directed by women; four are about bonds between family members while the fifth is about a bond between a dog and cat.
They all explore relationships, textured by friendship, love, kindness, regret and resignation. With imaginative and highly expressive approaches to storytelling, three employ labor-intensive stop-motion, but in different ways – using paper-mache, wool felt and clay; while two are brightly colored 2D CGI (computer graphic imagery).
In addition, four diverse and entertaining bonus animated shorts round out the program.
Hair LoveOSCAR WINNER Matthew Cherry, Karen Rupert Toliver, 2019, USA, 7 min.
HAIR LOVE is a heartfelt short story about the relationship between a father, his daughter Zuri, and the most daunting task a father could encounter – doing his daughter's hair for the first time.
In 2007, after retiring from the NFL, Matthew Cherry moved to Los Angeles and switched gears to begin work as a production assistant. After working on over forty commercials, he developed his skills as a director, transitioning from music videos to his first feature film (2012's THE LAST FALL). In 2017, he launched a Kickstarter campaign for an animated short about a black father's struggle to learn how to style his young daughter's hair. It became the most highly-funded short film campaign in the platform's history, and was later released in theaters nationwide. Matthew was an executive at Jordan Peele's production company Monkeypaw Productions, served as an Executive Producer on the Spike Lee film BLACKKKLANSMAN, and has most recently directed episodes on the ABC hit show BLACKISH.
Dcera (Daughter)Oscar Nominee Daria Kashcheeva, 2019, Czech Republic, 15 min.
In a hospital room, the Daughter recalls a childhood moment when as a little girl she tried to share her experience with an injured bird with her Father. A moment of misunderstanding and a lost embrace stretched into many years of estrangement, all the way to this hospital room, until the moment when a window pane breaks under the impact of a little bird.
Daria Kashcheeva studied animated film at FAMU in Prague and her student films were featured at many international festivals. Her original "To Accept" won the Nespresso Talent 2017 film competition in Cannes. In DAUGHTER, her Bachelor's puppet animation, she experimented with camera motion and explored the topic of father-daughter relationships.
SisterOscar Nominee Siqi Song, 2018, China/USA, 8 min.
A man thinks back to his childhood memories of growing up with an annoying little sister in China in the 1990s. What would his life have been like if things had gone differently?
Born in China, Siqi Song is a Writer/Director/Animator now based in Los Angeles, CA. She is the recipient of the 2018 LAIKA Animation Fellowship and Film Independent Project Involve Fellow. Her work has won top awards at Aspen ShortsFest, Austin Film Festival, Foyle Film Festival and have been shown in many prestigious film festivals, including Sundance Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival and more. Song holds a BA from China Central Academy of Fine Arts and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts.
MemorableOscar Nominee Bruno Collet and Jean-Francois Le Corre, 2019, France, 12 min.
Louis, a painter, is experiencing strange events. His world seems to be mutating. Slowly, furniture, objects and people lose their realism. They are destructuring, sometimes disintegrating ...
Born in 1965 in Saint-Brieuc, France, Bruno Collet got his Art Degree from The Rennes College of Fine Arts in 1990. From 1993 he worked as a set designer on numerous productions in stop motion before starting his career as an author director in 2001 with LE DOS AU MUR, recognized at the Cannes Critic's Week. THE LITTLE DRAGON, his stop-motion animated tribute to Bruce Lee, won 48 awards and was selected at Sundance Film Fest. MEMORABLE is his sixth short film.
Kitbull Oscar Nominee Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson, 2019, USA, 8 min.
KITBULL reveals an unlikely connection between two creatures: a fiercely independent stray kitten and a pit bull. Together, they each experience friendship for the first time.
Rosana Sullivan joined Pixar Animation Studios in April 2011. She worked as a story artist on THE GOOD DINOSAUR, and the Academy Award-winning feature film COCO. As a story artist, Sullivan provides visual storytelling for a project's script pages, utilizing compositional staging, environment, and character blocking. Story artists have to draw characters acting, camera moves, and very limited effects animation to convey an idea or emotion. Prior to Pixar, Sullivan attended the University of San Francisco before earning an internship with Pixar University. She later attended Academy of Art University, and worked for Kabam gaming studio in San Francisco. Born in Charleston, SC, Sullivan grew up in Texas and San Francisco.
Henrietta BulkowskiBonus Animation Rachel Johnson and Daniel Martin Eckhart, 2019, USA, 16 min.
The Bird & The WhaleBonus Animation Carol Freeman and Jonathan Clarke, 2018, Ireland, 7 min.
Hors PisteBonus Animation Camille Jalabert, Oscar Malet, Leo Brunel and Loris Cavalie, 2019, France, 6 min.
MaestroBonus Animation Illogic (Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon, and Lucas Navarro), 2019, France, 2 min.
~ PROGRAM B – LIVE ACTION ~ Total Run Time approximately 102 minutes.
Program sequence subject to change, all nominees will be shown.
SUMMARY
From thriller to docudrama to comedy, this year's live-action shorts are diverse, well-made and engaging, offering a broad range of emotional experience, evoking intrigue and empathy. With two of five nominees directed and four produced by women; the slate is about relationships / family and is built on forms of hope – for understanding, survival and better lives.
These global entries are from Belgium, Canada/Tunisia, France/Tunisia, Guatemala and the USA, only one is in English, but they all tell stories that transcend cultures. Although themes, tones and narratives vary from film to film, each is compelling, worth watching and will leave you knowing more than when you came in.
A Sister (Une Soeur) Oscar Nominee Delphine Girard, 2018, Belgium, 16 min.
Shot from the backseat of a frantic car ride and from across the desk of a crisis call center, this taut thriller unfolds for viewers as it does for the two women protagonists – one trapped by her abductor and the other an emergency dispatcher trying to help her. The cleverly written dialogue – a telephone conversation – underscores the severity of the situation and the fact that the woman in trouble can't speak directly about what she's trying to communicate. The gripping pace, tight framing and powerful performances by Veerle Baetens and Selma Alaoui
will have you on the edge of your seat.
Born in the heart of the French-Canadian winter, Delphine Girard moved to Belgium a few years later. After starting her studies as an actress, she transferred to the directing department at the INSAS in Brussels. Her graduation film, MONSTRE, won several awards in Belgium and around the world. After leaving school, she worked on several films as an assistant director, children's coach and casting director ("Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse, "Mothers' instinct" by Olivier Masset-Depasse) while writing and directing the short film CAVERNE, adapted from a short story by the American author Holly Goddard Jones. Girard is currently working on her first feature and a fiction series.
BrotherhoodOscar Nominee Meryam Joobeur, 2018, Canada/Tunisia/Qatar/Sweden, 25 min.
Mohamed is a shepherd living in rural Tunisia with his wife and two sons and is deeply shaken when his oldest son Malik returns home after a long absence with a mysterious new wife. This moving story explores the universal complexities of family dynamics - patriarchal dominance, generational perspectives and the impact and price of presumption. An excellent script, powerful performances and exquisite photography create a visual poem on the subtleties of paternal love and discipline.
Tunisian-American writer/director Meryam Joobeur is a graduate of the Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal. BROTHERHOOD had its World Premiere at Toronto in 2018, winning Best Canadian Short Film; and US Premiere at Sundance 2019, nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize. Joobeur is currently developing three feature films including a feature version of BROTHERHOOD.
The Neighbor's WindowOSCAR WINNER Marshall Curry and Julia Kennelly, 2016, USA, 20 min.
Alli and Jacob, a married couple exhausted by the daily demands of parenthood, can't stop staring into the window of a neighboring apartment building, where a young couple seem to do little more than throw parties and display wild new sex positions. As they become obsessed with the lives of their neighbors, we quickly empathize with Alli and the truths of marriage and motherhood, thanks to the outstanding performance of Maria Dizzia. In an unforeseen twist, the comedic "grass-is-greener" theme morphs into touching, serious drama at the end.
Inspired by a true story, the film was written and directed by three-time OSCAR-nominated documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and editor Marshall Curry. Starring Tony-nominated Maria Dizzia (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, 13 REASONS WHY, WHILE WE'RE YOUNG); Greg Keller (LAW AND ORDER); and Juliana Canfield (SUCCESSION).
Curry's films cover a wide range of interests and include STREET FIGHT, about Cory Booker's first run for mayor of Newark, N.J.; RACING DREAMS, which tells the story of two boys and a girl who dream of becoming NASCAR drivers; IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT, which chronicles a radical environmental group; POINT AND SHOOT, about an American who leaves home to join the Libyan revolution; and A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN, about a Nazi rally that filled Madison Square Garden in 1939. His films have won top honors at Sundance and Tribeca, played in theaters and on television around the world, and earned two Emmy nominations and two Writers Guild of America nominations. Curry also Executive Produced and helped edit MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS, a comedy documentary about the indie rock band, The National.
SariaOscar Nominee Bryan Buckley, Aura Santamaria and Matt Lefebvre, 2019, USA, 22 min.
Told through the characters of Saria, 12, and Ximena, 14, SARIA is based on the true story of a group of orphans at the state-run Virgen de La Asuncion Safe Home in Guatemala, who boldly attempt to escape a life of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The story follows the events leading up to the tragic fire in 2017 that claimed the lives of 41 orphaned girls. Premiering at the 2020 Oscar Shorts, director Bryan Buckley intends to generate awareness of, and outrage over, the abuse and neglect children suffer around the world.
Buckley wrote and directed the short film ASAD, which received a 2013 Academy Award nomination for "Best Live Action Short Film" and was cited by Archbishop Desmund Tutu in a speech as having helped stem xenophobia in his country. Buckley then followed up his short with two feature films - the 2015 Sundance Film Festival opener, THE BRONZE, and THE PIRATES OF SOMALIA, which had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. The New York Times dubbed Oscar-Nominee Bryan Buckley the "King of the Super Bowl," having directed over 60 commercials for the big game since 2000. A 2010 Adweek Readers Poll named Buckley the Commercial Director of the Decade - he was also named one of the 50 best Creative Minds in the last 25 years by Creativity Magazine. Buckley is an esteemed recipient of the DGA award, multiple Emmys, and over 50 Cannes Lions. Most recently, he won the 2019 Cannes Grand Prix for his work on MARCH FOR OUR LIVES "GENERATION LOCKDOWN," done in support of the S.42 Background Check Expansion Act.
Nefta Football ClubOscar Nominee Yves Piat, 2018, France/Tunisia, 17 min.
NFC brings a touch of levity to the program, as two young brothers, Abdallah and Mohammed, come across a donkey in the desert near their Tunisian village. Curiously, the animal is wearing headphones over its ears and is laden with mysterious cargo.
Yves Piat discovered the world of cinema through his technical work as a technician, decorator and studio manager on set. He developed the Nefta Football Club story by mixing a personal experience coming from his childhood and his observations after several journeys through Southern Morocco.
☀ DRINKS & DINING:
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Hair Love 
Dcera (Daughter) 
Sister 
Memorable 
Kitbull 
Henrietta Bulkowski 
The Bird & The Whale 
Hors Piste 
Maestro 
A Sister (Une Soeur) 
Brotherhood 
The Neighbor's Window 
Saria 
Nefta Football Club