Breaking Down the Documentary Short Subject Shortlist

The shorts can make or break your Oscar pool. Thanks to Shorts TV, the animated, live action, and documentary short films are easier to find every year, but what about those films that just missed the cut? Earlier this month, the Academy released their shortlist of films for all three shorts categories, and we will be looking at all the entries before the nominations are announced. 

The Documentary Short Subject category brings us stories from across the globe every year, but I keep wondering how much people will want to hear about tragedy since 2020 has filled us with so much anxiety. Will The Academy want to escape to other non-COVID stories or will they lean towards the uplifting? My personal instinct is they will respond to great filmmaking like they always do, but maybe have more perspective and respect for an experience unlike their own. Is that too much to hope for? According to The Academy, 114 films qualified for this category.

Do Not Split
Anders Hammer’s Do Not Split has some of the most terrifying protest footage I’ve ever seen.

In 2019, a proposed bill that would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China sparked violent protests throughout all of Hong Kong. Instead of shifting the focus to talking heads or government officials, Hammer’s film puts us right in the violence so vividly that we feel the need to reach for the closest mask and take cover.

The film shows various protests beginning in the fall of 2019, and we see how violence escalates over several months. One of the first things we see is a bank branch being set on fire by a young protestor, but towards the end of this 35-minute short, we see the beginning of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University siege. Over 200 protesters were trapped inside and police surrounded them. Hongkongers are trying to come up with different ways to keep the protest alive despite the coronavirus pandemic. Seeing the streets practically empty, an image we have come far too comfortable with, is shocking despite the majority of the world living in lockdown for nearly a year.

Hammer’s film actually pushes you to want to fight for injustice. The score, by Martin Horntveth, rivals anything shortlisted for Original Score this season. It throbs and feels like it sweeps you under your feet like an angry current. What is going to happen as the world begins to settle back into normalcy? Do Not Split is urgent and will raise the hair on the back of your neck.

Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa
There is a lot of distance between the men that make decisions about women’s bodies and the women who call in to try and get financial assistance for their scheduled abortions in Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa. Directors Janet Goldwater, Mike Attie, and Barbara Attie make their point very clear in a short amount of time: the Hyde Amendment is forcing low-income mothers to carry their pregnancy to full term.

When Henry J. Hyde proposed the bill in 1976, he basically said, “Rich women can take care of their abortions, so we won’t try to stop them. Let’s stop poor families who can’t afford the procedure.” A Philadelphia helpline tries to assist mothers as much as they can by applying donated money towards abortion procedures the patient can’t care for. Depending on what time you call and the information the young women gather at the time of the call determines how much money can be put towards the abortion.

Focus is spent on a white computer screen while information is inputted to a patient’s profile. A calculator shows how much money is left to find to cover the cost and just seeing it on the screen is nerve-wracking. The word “GAP” is in bold and in red. Hearing the voices of embarrassed women–some in domestic violence situations–is hard to listen to even though we never see their faces. The directors want us to connect with people–not a hot-button issue.

Hunger Ward
The hunger crisis in Yemen is the central point of Skye Fitzgerald’s Hunger Ward, but this short also makes us look at the larger, more troubling picture of war as well. It is an unflinching glimpse at a doctor and nurse struggling to make a difference for the malnourished, but they are helping kids who enter a world of violence and terror.

Fitzgerald drops us into this world with Dr. Aida Alsadeeq and Nurse Mekkia Mahdi, navigating the hallways of hospitals as they try to save as many children as possible in a country on the brink of famine. More than half of the severe cases of child starvation are in South Yemen. We are introduced two young girls: Omeima is 10 years old and only weighs 24 pounds. Abeer is 6 years old and weighs 15 pounds. In addition to dealing with the threat of war, these medical professionals are wading deep in emotional battles with relatives who think that these doctors and nurses aren’t doing enough to save their children.

These children feel trapped but Fitzgerald never makes it dreadful to watch. There are horrible circumstances in Hunger Ward but Fitzgerald focuses on the forward momentum of the work of Alsadeeq and Mekkia and how they try to lift the spirits of the patients in their wards. A smile may not seem like much in a world torn by violence, but it might lead to success on the next day.

Hysterical Girl
Kate Novack’s Hysterical Girl is a confident documentary that is both a condemnation of Freud’s analysis of his only female case study and how the media talks about abuse. It mixes media, performance and some animation in just 13 minutes.

Sigmund Freud only published one study about the female experience in Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, and Novack’s experimental film invites us to explore how the case should have been told. Dora, the young woman’s pseudonym is embodied by a young woman, and she talks directly to the camera about how a family friend sexually abused her at the age of 13. The friend continued to come around on summer vacations and gatherings, and Freud ultimately classified her reaction to Freud’s analysis as “hysterical.”

Hysterical Girl is not a period piece. Novack intersperses cuts of segments of news stories from liberal and conservative outlets as well as testimony from Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford during confirmation hearings and images of contemporary film to show isolation and fear. It’s shocking to feel how Novack elicits a response from her audience but keeps us on out toes with the breakneck speed of the editing.

Freud’s words still hold such weight because of his stature, but Dora’s place is much more compromised.

Colette
Colette Marin-Catherine faces down her worst fear in the stunning Colette from director Anthony Giacchino. Marin-Catherine’s brother, Jean-Pierre, died in a concentration camp in the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp three weeks before the Allies liberated it. She swore she would never step foot back in Germany after her brother’s death, but at the age of 92, she decides to revisit the very camp that took her Jean-Pierre’s life.

Marin-Catherine is accompanied by Lucie Fouble, a history student working on a dictionary of the nine thousand French deportees who went through Nordhausen. Lucie is fascinated by the new friend she has in Colette. She asks questions about her family’s involvement in the French Resistance and finds out that while Jean-Pierre was not very close with his sister, she admired him very much.

It is an emotional short, but it’s paced well and the new bond between Lucie and Colette is very tender and real. We are witnessing a tragic visit to the past, but we are also witnessing a new relationship coming alive in front of our very eyes. I loved this film so much.

Call Center Blues
There were a lot of issues with the Trump administration’s policies on immigration, so Call Center Blues feels very timely and relevant. Instead of talking policy or the government’s involvement, director Geeta Gandbhir introduces us to several people who have been deported and they are trying to work consistently in call centers. The memories of deportation still haunt these people, and Gandbhir’s film confronts the immigration experience in a simple but heartbreaking way.

In Tijuana, Mexico, getting a job in a call center can earn you a lot of money. For Alondra and Jena, a young couple living together, they can make a better income by working at a center and calling with survey questions than they would at a fast food restaurant. Mauricio comments that it’s “either call center or cartels” and Roberto details how his wife left him after he battled drug abuse.

Gandbhir’s subjects don’t live too far from the United States, but it feels like it’s a million miles away. When they feel nostalgic or wonder about how their lives could’ve been different, each of their eyes sparkle with sadness, but they are all looking forward to the lives they are currently living. Anyone can make a movie about longing for a life they wish they had, but Gandbhir captures the bravery of wholly living their lives in the current now.

A Love Song for Latasha
Fifteen year old Latasha Harlins did not expect to die when she stopped at a convenience store to buy some orange juice for her grandmother in 1991. We are still feeling the reverberations of her death nearly thirty years later. Sophia Nahli Allison’s A Love Song for Latasha is a lyrical memory to a young woman who had her entire life ahead of her. There is such a warm glow exuding from this tribute.

Rather than recycle the details of Harlins’ death, Nahli Allison flips it from a memorial to a celebration. We hear about her ambitions and her dreams. When people talk about Latasha Harlins, their voices light up and the direction captures that and magnifies it as the film plays. Make no mistake. Latasha Harlins was murdered in cold blood for no reason but Nahli Allison talks to Latasha’s best friend and cousin to paint a broader picture of her aspirations.

Time seems to want to go backwards–we see school buses and tears reverse–as if we could change the course of our past, and the film sometimes has a home movie quality where static changes or blips the scene to the next montage. A Love Song for Latasha is an accomplished piece of filmmaking because it recalls the past but also the horrors of our present. It’s essential viewing to mark Latasha Harlins’ memory.

What Would Sophia Loren Do? 
Sophia Loren is having quite the year, isn’t she! On the surface of Ross Kauffman’s delightful What Would Sophia Loren Do?, a grandmother reflects on the lessons that her favorite Italian actress taught her through her performances and screen presence. Nancy Kulik is probably the biggest Sophia Loren fan I’ve ever seen. She’s felt a kinship to Loren from her very early screen performances, and who would ever question an Italian grandmother’s dedication to such an icon like Loren?

It is incredibly gratifying to watch Kulik watch Loren act, but Kauffman crafts something deeper than one may think. What Would Sophia Loren Do? captures the feeling of being seen and realizing what art and film can truly do for someone who loves to consume it. We may not even realize that we love watching a certain movie star because we feel a connection with them and their performances. Have you ever thought of your favorite actors and actresses and really analyzed the roles they play? Why do you like who you like?

This short is true synergy for Loren to nab that third Oscar nomination. Her son, Edoado Ponti, directs Loren in The Life Ahead, and we get glimpses of them on set together. Of course, Loren is one of the most beautiful women to ever grace our movie screens, but once someone is lifted to such an iconic status, it’s hard to forget how real they are. Kulik never forgot and you know she will be the first person in line to see Loren’s next film. What a crowd-pleaser.

The Speed Cubers
If The Queen’s Gambit can spark a new, fevered interest in the game of chess, can Sue Kim’s The Speed Cubers ignite a wave of excited Rubik’s Cube enthusiasts as we continue lockdown? Kim’s heartwarming short film makes a case but also showcases the power of kindness and family.

The Speed Cubers is really a tale of two competitors. Much like numerous sports features and documentaries over the years, we meet two different young men from different backgrounds who form a bond over breaking each other’s records at the World Cube Association’s competitions every two years.

Feliks Zemdegs is an Austrailian cube prodigy but Max Park is nipping at his heels. Zemdegs is slightly older than Park, but this competition is very friendly. Their fingers may move as quickly, as Hunt and Launda did at Formula One, but there is a lot of admiration between these two. Park was diagnosed as autistic at an early age and he gravitated towards cubing to help him socialize. Zemdegs will jump on Skype or Zoom to congratulate Park any time Park breaks one of his world records.

When we get to the competitions, The Speed Cubers turns into a pulse-pounding thrill ride. Yes, for solving Rubik’s Cubes. Kim has a lot of admiration for these two young men, and their bond is a testament to the kind of friendships we need to grow as people. They might not hold world records forever, but I’m sure they will continue to talk even though they are in different parts of the world.

A Concerto Is a Conversation
I didn’t want A Concerto Is a Conversation to end, because of how Kris Bowers and his grandfather, Horace Bowers Sr., looked at the camera. Their eyes sparkle as they discuss lineage and history while gorgeous music scores their conversations.

Kris Bowers, who also co-directed the film with Ben Proudfoot, has been making quite a name for himself as a composer of such films like Green Book, Bad Hair, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Bowers is concerned about learning from his grandfather’s past because Bowers sometimes feels that he doesn’t belong in spaces where white people have dominated for so many decades. His grandfather replies, “You wouldn’t be there if you weren’t supposed to be.”

Horace Bowers Sr. talks about how he traveled from Florida to California and quickly became the owner of a dry cleaners. It wasn’t easy, though, and he tells his grandson how he would mail in correspondence to banks so they wouldn’t know the color of his skin. The conversation between them is told in extreme closeup. We never miss the slightest move of the face or blink of the eye. I wonder how many more stories Mr. Bowers Sr. would tell his grandson. Like music, this short tugs on your heart and there are so many layers of truth on full, honest display.

Who Will Be Nominated
It is difficult to figure out how serious this category is going to skew, and how many films Netflix is going to get in the race. Since 2017, Netflix has managed to get in this category with at least one nomination–in 2019 and 2017 they scored two. I’m going to predict that it picks up two nominations. The predicted five:

1. A Concerto Is a Conversation
2. The Speed Cubers
3. A Love Song for Latasha
4. Colette
5. Hunger Ward