As a member of the shorts screening committee @ NewFest
for 3 years, I fell in love with the short form. Shorts are one of the
reasons I love film festivals, and am addicted to the better offerings
on YouTube.
Just as I LOVE that you can see all the Tony nominated Broadway shows only in NYC, for now the only way to see all the Oscar nominated shorts was to attend a special Academy screening here in L.A., and that's exactly what I did this week. I have now watched every 2007 Academy Award eligible short with my own two eyes, in plush seats at industry theaters. [Now you, too, can watch the live action and animated shorts (but not the doc shorts) on iTunes from the comfort of your own computer, for a small fee.] So, now I can authoritatively give my completely biased opinion on these 3 categories:
Live Action Short - I'm rooting for "The Saviour"
Animated Short - I really liked "The Danish Poet," but I've got to go with "Maestro"
Documentary Short - I enjoyed them all, but even my unbiased opinion would have to be for "Two Hands" - REALLY!
Watching the doc shorts today as part of IDA's DocuDay, I was struck by how L O N G the majority of the short films actually are. Most butt up against the Academy cut-off of 40 minutes. I'm of the mind that "shorts" should be short; and that's the exact sentiment Nathaniel Kahn parsed in the Q&A following the screening after an audience member suggested that perhaps the film was a little too concise. I think the film's brevity, clocking in at 17 minutes, is one of its strengths. In fact, it's on the long side for festivals, which is the yardstick by which I'm most familiar and comfortable.
I vote for simplicity & craft. Let's hope the Academy voters did, too.
I'm not wishing "break a leg" anymore (or even crossing fingers), since Leon had to break his hand and cross his digits, essentially, to set this all in motion. Instead:
(good vibes)~~~~~~[Two Hands]~~~~~~(good vibes)
Only a few more hours until the opening of the envelope; And the winner is... ;-)
