Today is the last post of the week and the last of the smaller categories in my Year in Review. If you missed any of the other posts, please be sure to check them out at the links below.

• Biggest Surprises of 2022
• Biggest Disappointments of 2022
• Favorite Performances of 2022
• Best Books About Movies in 2022
• Top 10 First Time Watches in 2022
• Top 10 Films of 2022

Today I’m talking all about short films. One misperception I think I need to get out of the way is just how long a short film is. To be eligible for the three short film categories at the Oscars, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says that a short film must have a running time of 40 minutes or less, including credits. That said, if you are telling a story in less than 40 minutes, you have to be very precise about what you include. That’s part of what I love about short films. They often don’t have any unnecessary bits and can be very inventive about how they tell stories.
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For this post, I’m not separating short films into smaller categories but including everything in one: live action narrative, documentary, and animated. So, without further ado, let’s get into the top five short films I saw this year. If you're interested in watching them for yourself, the movie titles link to the films except "Boxballet" which is just the trailer.

 ​5: Boxballet
This fun animated short film was one of five nominated for Best Animated Short Film  at the Oscars earlier this year. It is a brief love story, a bit reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, between a hulking boxer and a dainty ballerina. The visual style is so different from what we normally see in animation, and that’s what made it one of my favorites I saw this year.

4: The Queen of Basketball
Let me tell you, I loved meeting Lusia Harris in this film. Harris is the star of this short documentary that won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject this year and even in her 60s, she was a vibrant personality in the interview portions of this film.

Chronicling her college basketball career during which she won three national championships and a silver medal at the Olympics. She would go on to become the first African American woman inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Sadly, Harris passed away in January 2022 just a few months before this film received its Oscar.

3: Robin Robin
Another animated short film that was nominated for Best Animated Short Film earlier this year, “Robin Robin” is so much fun and I’ve watched it several times with my kids and when I went to the theater to see the full slate of animated short film nominees.

he film is stop-motion animation, and features voice talents of Richard E. Grant and Gillian Anderson, but the true star is Robin, the young robin who grew up in a family of mice. She makes a terrible mouse (mainly because she’s a bird) but tries to prove to her mouse family that she belongs by sneaking into the Who-Man house at Christmas to steal the star from the top of their tree.

​Fire this one up on Netflix this holiday season to kick off your next movie night.

2: Audible
This film actually lost out to “The Queen of Basketball” in the Best Documentary Short Subject at the Oscars this year, but I put it slightly ahead on my own list.

​This one is just on the limit for consideration in that category, but looks at the story of Amaree McKenstry-Hall, a deaf football player at the Maryland School for the Deaf as he and his teammates and friends deal with the pressures of performing on the field, while mourning the loss of a close friend to suicide. Any one part of that description could make a great film on its own but putting them all together and in a short film is truly amazing and fully deserving of the nomination it received.

1: Lynching Postcards: ‘Token of A Great Day’
Just like last year, my top film on this list is extremely difficult to watch, but for completely different reasons. “Lynching Postcards” is a tight 15 minutes but speaks volumes in how it covers its subject matter.

The film documents the history of “lynching postcards,” small souvenirs people could send to relatives and friends to celebrate their role in or attendance at public lynchings of African Americans throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. I sat and watched this film in disgust, amazed at the cruelty that could lead people to do these things in the name of hate and fear, but was forced to draw a line straight to the social media of today.

​While it is an incredibly difficult film to watch, it is necessary, and I highly recommend anyone taking some time to watch for themselves.

I hope you have been enjoying my year end review this week. Today I am covering short films. This is my first category that isn't necessarily films from 2021.

As part of watching films to prepare for the Oscars each year, I have seen more short films over the last several years than I have in the past. I enjoy them quite a bit because I don't have to devote 2-3 hours to them and oftentimes, the stories are told in such a great way because they have limited time to work with. Every shot, every frame, each character movement has to have a purpose.

​Short films are also much more available today than ever before with platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and even the big streamers like Disney+ and Netflix. I have a variety on this list including animation, live action, and documentaries from 2020 and 2021.

I am starting off our deeper dive coverage of the films nominated for Oscars this year with a look at the three short film categories, Best Documentary Short Film, Best Animated Short Film, and Best Live Action Short Film.

I personally love these categories because you often get a wide range of stories all packed into small packages. Many of the films, especially in the animated category, are less than ten minutes long, so you can sit down and watch the entire category in less time than it takes to watch a full feature film, if you can find them that is.

That's the true struggle with these films. They rarely get released to theaters outside of film festivals, but with the rise of online streaming services and sites like Vimeo and YouTube, many of these are more accessible than ever. Out of the 15 nominees across the three short film categories, seven are readily available on YouTube, Netflix and Disney+. The remaining eight do not currently have distribution as of this writing, but may be released publicly prior to the Academy Award ceremony.

With four of these five films available online, I was able to sit down and watch them back to back. I wish I could say these documentaries were uplifting and lighthearted, but with subjects ranging from anti-government protests in Hong Kong to the murder of a young girl to a WWII French Resistance fighter visiting the concentration camp where her brother died, you won't find much levity here. About the closest you'll come is the conversation between a grandfather and grandson on the eve of the younger man's concerto debut in concert.

These films are all fantastic. As I have some more time to digest them and think about them, I'm sure one or two may rise to the surface as my favorite to win the award, but right now they are all too fresh in my mind to make a pick.
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• "Colette" - Nazi occupied France. Resistance took courage. Seventy-five years later, Facing one's ghosts may take even more. Available on YouTube.
• "A Concerto Is a Conversation" - A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family's lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Available on YouTube.
• "Do Not Split" - In 2019 Hong Kong was rocked by the largest protests since Britain handed back the area to China in 1997. This is the story of the protests, told through a series of demonstrations by local protesters that escalate into conflict when highly armed police appear on the scene. Available on YouTube.
• ​"Hunger Ward" - Filmed from inside two of the most active therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen, the film documents two female health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of a forgotten war.
• "A Love Song for Latasha" - The injustice surrounding the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at a South Central Los Angeles store became a flashpoint for the city’s 1992 civil uprising. Available on Netflix.

The animated short film category is one that has been owned by Pixar shorts off and on for some time. However, as cute as "Burrow" is, I don't think it is strong enough to take home the prize this year. I say this having only seen that and "If Anything Happens I Love You," but already that film has my vote for the award. Fair warning, don't read anything about it before you watch, not even my summary below. The best way to watch that short is to go in blind.

I am hoping to get a chance to see the other three films, especially "Opera" which brings a very intriguing premise. As I am able to view them, I will update here with my thoughts as well as short reviews of each.
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• "Burrow" - A young rabbit tries to build the burrow of her dreams, becoming embarrassed each time she accidentally digs into a neighbor's home. Available on Disney+.
• "Genius Loci" - One night, Reine, a young loner, sees the urban chaos as a mystical oneness that seems alive, like some sort of guide.
• "If Anything Happens I Love You" - Two parents struggle to overcome their pain following a tragic event that changes their family forever. Available on Netflix.
• "Opera" - Our society and history, which is filled with beauty and absurdity.
• ​"Yes-People" - One morning, an eclectic mix of people face everyday battles of work, school, and dish-washing.

As of this writing, I've only seen one film from this group but it is fantastic. The premise of "Feeling Through" is truly unique and once again, I went in knowing very little of what it was about.

I am also intrigued to see "The Letter Room" which stars Hollywood actor Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, Star Wars, Inside Llewyn Davis) He has been seen in a number of big budget films over the last decade or so, that I look forward to seeing what he is able to do in a short film format.

Finally, I recently heard an interview with Lawrence Bender, the producer of "Two Distant Strangers" as well as Joey Bada$$ who stars in the film. The story sounds like an intriguing look at police brutality in America mixed with a concept familiar to anyone who has seen Palm Springs (review) or Groundhog Day. 
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• "Feeling Through" - A late-night encounter on a New York City street leads to a profound connection between a teen-in-need and a deaf blind man. Available at feelingthrough.com or YouTube.
• "The Letter Room" - When a corrections officer is transferred to the letter room, he soon finds himself enmeshed in a prisoner's deeply private life.
• "The Present" - On his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads, and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?
• "Two Distant Strangers" - Cartoonist Carter James' repeated attempts to get home to his dog are thwarted by a recurring deadly encounter that forces him to re-live the same awful day over and over again.
• "White Eye" - A man finds his stolen bicycle, which now belongs to a stranger. While attempting to retrieve it, he struggles to remain human.​​

2021 Oscar Facts and Trivia | Best International Feature

In a world where every "fact" imaginable can be argued from many different sides, it's good to know that math is still sacred...or is it?

​I have the great fortune of still being in touch through email with my kindergarten teacher. As my first grade school teacher, she was a great influence on me at a very early age and I give her tremendous credit for handling a classroom of while 5 and 6-year-olds on a daily basis.

She recently sent me an email with a link to a wonderful little short film called "Alternative Math." While the teacher in the film handles first grade, I can see the same quick wit and genuine love to teaching that my kindergarten teacher has to this day. After all, she's still teaching me things by sharing this fun film.