With any mention of the Academy Awards, an argument about the merits of Black Swan versus The Social Network usually ensues. But while the Great Debate about Best Picture rages on, the oft-overlooked category of Best Short Film has generated Oscar buzz of its own at D.C.’s E Street Cinema.
Too often, even the winning short films sink back into obscurity after the Academy Awards, and during the ceremonies, audiences scratch their heads at lists of nominations they have never heard before. Through ties with various cinemas as well as iTunes, the Academy has worked hard to change this attitude, making Best Short Film nominations available to theatergoers and iPad owners alike. While audiences must wait until February 22 to download the nominated short films from iTunes, the E Street Cinema, just a short ride on the Red Line away, offers D.C. a chance to watch the films and predict the winners before the Academy Awards on February 27.
In the live action subcategory, five short films of strikingly different character vie for the little golden statue. The last in E Street’s series, God of Love, written and directed by Luke Matheny, proves the weirdest—it bizarrely follows a New Yorker armed with adoration-inducing darts as he stumbles through love triangles, backed by Godard-esque title sequences in a black and white cityscape. To say the least, the film is less entertaining than ABC’s Cupid, which was canceled after seven short episodes. Luckily, at 18 minutes, God of Love commands the least time from the audience, leaving room for viewers to enjoy far more moving, shocking, and beautiful short films.
Of the five, The Confession, written by Caroline Bruckner and directed by Tanel Toom, may snag the Oscar for its striking cinematography and shocking storyline. The film begins by humorously summing up the entirety of Catholic guilt in a conversation between two nine-year-olds. The friends, preparing for their first confession, find themselves sinless and decide to go on a quest to commit wrongs so as to have quality material when the time comes to confess. One boy despairs, “I won’t be a real Catholic if I can’t be absolved!” The film quickly takes on a tragic air, however, when schoolyard pranks lead to disturbing murders. This flux between childhood innocence and life-devastating shame comes quickly and ends abruptly, making The Confession one of the short films perhaps more suited for feature length.
Though The Confession may well charm the Academy, the best live action film this year is by far Na Wewe. The short, directed by Ivan Goldschmidt and co-written by Goldschmidt and Jean-Luc Pening, captures virtually every human emotion in its 19 minutes portrayal of the 1994 conflict in Burundi. As a Hutu child soldier aims his rifle at a fellow boy, he yanks off the Tutsi’s headphones, suddenly smiling and bobbing to the beat. Asking who the band is, the scared child answers “U2” only to be misunderstood as saying “Hutu.” As incongruous as a “Who’s on First” dialogue may seem given the situation, Na Wewe masterfully pieces together seemingly unmelodious facets of the human condition, proving our shared nature even amongst a conflict of difference.
For Oscar fans, a trip down to the E Street Cinema to see 2011’s Oscar nominated shorts is a must. The live action shorts, when played together on the big screen, provide for a mini film festival experience right here in D.C.
