Our Shortened Longlist of Oscars Longlist-Surpassing Shortlisted Shorts
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
The nominations for the 95th Academy Awards are going to be announced bright and early this upcoming Tuesday, January 24th. While we obviously love going crazy this time of year (me especially, as I go through each and every category and rank all of the nominees from worst to best), we’ve highlighted the vast majority of the films that will likely be brought up that fateful morning (whatever we didn’t get to, we will during the awards season before the Academy Awards happen). However, there were always three categories that I had zero insight into on Films Fatale before the nominations drop, and these would be all three of the shorts categories: Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Subject, and Best Live Action Short Film. While I do give mini reviews for all five nominated films for each category while I rank them (and will do so again this year), I’ve never been fortunate enough to shed any light on the hopefuls beforehand.
Until now.
Yes. Here are all forty five (!) shortlisted short films on my longlist of the shorts that graduated from the longlist, but I won’t be long about it: I will describe each short shortly because the list is already going to be long as it is overpopulated with shorts that range from a few minutes to forty minutes long.
Phew.
I’ll limit myself to a couple of sentences per film: what is the biggest takeaway I got from each film? I will preface this list by saying that the vast majority of these shorts were actually worthwhile, and only a couple of films felt difficult to watch. The bulk of these shorts were entertaining, challenging, or connected to me in some way, shape, or form. Additionally, a couple of very specific shorts absolutely blew me away, and you will see what they are in this article. Overall, I am quite pleased with this batch of potential nominees, as the final fives of some years have felt more difficult to watch than around forty of these forty five finalists. Let’s get to it.
For Your Consideration: Best Animated Short Film
Let me begin by saying this: not a single short here is bad, boring, or not worthwhile. While some shorts felt stronger than others, all of these works excelled in their own ways. Additionally, a couple of animated short films this year blew my socks off, and you’ll reach those towards the end of this ranking.
15. The Debutante
Perhaps some of my favourite animation of the bunch (ink blots in a fashion-editorial design on recycled papers), The Debutante is exhilarating to watch but a little basic narratively. I get that it’s only eight minutes, but I would have loved a longer story (or a set of vignettes) told like this; I didn’t want the artistry to end.
14. The Garbage Man
Bad memories turn into mementos once we reflect upon the departed, and The Garbage Man is a sincere (if brief) look at the focus on the best elements of life during hardship. There’s a clever allegory with the fixing of trash and finding value within the discarded, and that is the biggest reward The Garbage Man delivers.
13. The Flying Sailor
Based on the 1917 Halifax Explosion, The Flying Sailor places us in the shoes of someone going through the worst moment of their life amid disaster. The titular character’s mind races, and we explore the cosmos and infinite nature of the universe while his life is likely to come to its end; an interesting, existential experiment.
12. Passenger
Passenger’s cute, paper stop motion animation is noteworthy alone, but it is the progression into its dichotomous last act that renders it quite interesting: an observation of the commuting experience as a whole, and then individually in our own eyes and then in the eyes of others (maybe we’re not the best passengers either, as we judge others during our trips).
11. More than I Want to Remember
Told in an autobiographical fashion, More Than I Want to Remember is gorgeously animated — like vivid memories coming back to the narrator — while being frightening contextually. It is a bittersweet reminder that one’s past will be full of lovely memories and the pain that they can never escape either.
10. Save Ralph
While it does feel a teensy bit preachy, the well-intentioned messages of Save Ralph — the abuse of animals via product testing — is an important one. The incredibly dark animation will greatly affect you (as is intentioned), and you may very well develop a bond with poor Ralph in this incredibly brief amount of time (get ready to feel heartbroken).
9. Steakhouse
Cold, frigid, cynical, yet oh-so captivating. Steakhouse is a viciously strict short about toxic masculinity that fits in nicely with the many other culinary-revenge tales we’ve had in 2022 (the list is too long to go through). It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love a little bit of absurdity and twisted-ness when done well (or, in this case, well done).
8. Black Slide
Life is long yet short: just like the trip up a waterslide and the quick descent down into the pool below. Black Slide is a smart symbol that works on so many levels; overcoming grief; handling mental health; how suddenly we can experience loss; wondering what happens next once it’s all done (our depression, or life itself). Black Slide is incredibly multifaceted for its runtime.
7. Sierra
The benefit of the animated medium is that it is endless, and it takes something like the bonkers Sierra to remind us of this sometimes. It’s the kind of short that will have you rethinking many everyday occurances once you’re done watching it, as its infectiously childlike, imaginative nature (even amidst some of the more mature themes) is one that we often forget we can have at any given time.
6. My Year of Dicks
So many shorts end just when they start to get going. My Year of Dicks reads like a series of shorts (which, perhaps it is) amalgamated together into one mini-diary of teenage confessions; its anthological nature makes the short feel like it just zips by you, and the doodle-like animation feels like a great reminder that we’re just trying to figure life out during our high school years (daydreams and fantasies being akin to what we sketch on our notebooks when we don’t pay attention in class). Vulnerable and cathartic.
5. New Moon
This one-person show takes the mental visions one has during a minimalist stage production and turns them into a hallucinogenic, sublime reality. As we transcend the linearity of time and space in this freeform world, New Moon speaks of entire lifetimes and generations in bitesized, surreal explorations; it’s as majestic as it is grounded.
4. Ice Merchants
A testament to how far we push ourselves as members of society (sometimes ahead of our own livelihoods as living beings), Ice Merchants is able to build a bond between us and its characters whilst keeping us in suspense so effortlessly. Ice Merchants reads like a fable or children’s book.
3. It’s Nice in Here
A powerful observation of points-of-view, a devastating event is given two different stories in It’s Nice in Here. How the short handles both storylines is seamless, and they are juxtaposed to great effect (causing you to really question the ethics of society, and how we train persons of authority via hate). A short that is guaranteed to stay with you for a while.
2. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse
This adaption of the Charlie Macksey story translates as well as the Snowman films based on Raymond Briggs’ book of the same name. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse is a lovely journey that feels fun to be a part of, but it actually sticks the landing (which so many childrens’ shorts of a similar nature just don’t); its gorgeous ending had my eyes welling up, and I think this is a short that will age well with time.
1. An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It
I’m a sucker for meta works done well, and An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It is near-perfect with its approach. An office employee’s stop-motion world (which is always apparently worked on by outside forces to us) comes crumbling down (think Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman). An Ostrich is zany, hilarious, existentially morbid (in a relatable way), and so inventive with its animation at times (all I will say is “zoetrope”). I adored this short, and it’s one of the best I’ve seen all year.
For Your Consideration: Best Documentary Short Subject
This batch is definitely a step up from last year, where most of the final five nominees didn’t really captivate me whatsoever. It was tough to rank most of these documentaries because I liked the vast majority of them (I also wouldn’t say that any of these were my absolute favourite works of the year either, mind you). This is a solid batch of good works that I recommend you watch should a subject matter interest you.
15. Happiness is £4 Million
While I appreciate the humble approach to this documentary, Happiness is £4 Million is quite slowly paced to the point of being a disservice for this observation of financial, societal changes in China. It may be your cup of tea, but I found this short a bit monotonous and lethargic despite its personality.
14. Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices From A Plantation Prison
An interesting approach to the documentary medium, Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices From A Plantation Prison merges the realities of life with the extensive landscape of prose and art. Beautifully shot and captivating in ways, Angola is one of those shorts that could have benefited from being more precise (focused) or even longer (more coverage of this theme, its subject, and the potential scope).
13. As Far As They Can Run
A moving look at the disabled communities in Pakistan, As Far as They Can Run is an uplifting look at hardship via three bold subjects. In forty minutes, As Far as They Can Run takes you through a rural town, the histories of three citizens, and their potential as they push themselves past defeat.
12. Haulout
A look at how global warming is affecting the walrus population, Haulout is told via very little guidance. We observe a lone man that cannot look away from what he can observe with the walruses up north; the frigid, blue cinematography is a notion that softens the shocking blow revealed at the end of the film.
11. Nuisance Bear
When you’re an animal that is held in captivity for onlookers, what happens when you are left alone to your own devices? Nuisance Bear is an eye-opening study where just a little bit of documented footage speaks volumes. It’s difficult to not feel awful when you see animals at a zoo after witnessing the polar bear at the centre of this documentary: it is a necessary second perspective.
10. How Do You Measure A Year?
A documentary whose best element is how it works with time, How Do You Measure A Year? is a strong achievement of what a filmmaker can accomplish with patience and dedication. This short will wow viewers based on its ambition alone, and its emotional aspects are sure to be the cherry on top.
9. American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton
After many have had to scrub the stereotypical lies of media’s past via documentarian means, we will only continue to see works like American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton: a startling look at how a case was completely sensationalized and skewed against Black Panther Party Co-Founder Huey Newton (to the point of being misrepresented to this day).
8. Anastasia
Anastasia is the kind of documentary that observes the curse of time, as one action can lead to awful consequences. What appears to be a film about the titular mother’s stance against corruption becomes a devastating look at how much more monstrous tyranny can get. Nothing could prepare me for the final moments captured on the boat.
7. Shut Up and Paint
A capturing of an activist that conveys his messages via striking artwork, Shut Up and Paint goes into the nitty-gritty of the current phenomenon where political statements are not worth bringing up (if one disagrees with them; otherwise, it’s fine). The art itself is worth watching alone, and Shut Up and Paint is a mere twenty minute watch that doesn’t wallow.
6. Holding Moses
Many documentaries feel put-on or orchestrated to convey points (or to not step on any toes). Holding Moses is extremely candid to the point of being confrontational, but it makes it very special. Watching a mother accepting her child’s life-affecting disability via her passion of the performance arts is difficult, yet this powerful short feels like a must-see.
5. Stranger At The Gate
A highly-terrifying tale told in hindsight, Stranger at the Gate shares the confession of a U.S. Marine that was close to fulfilling an act of terrorism. He has a change of heart when meeting the Muslims he initially wants to kill. This is his story, and it’s incredibly heavy to watch. If handled poorly, Stranger at the Gate could have been an awful take on such a circumstance. This topic is approached with the proper care here, as Stranger at the Gate is incredibly vulnerable: proof that people can change.
4. The Martha Mitchell Effect
As discussed before, many documentaries are necessary to fix the history that was hidden from the masses because of bigotry. Enter Martha Mitchell: an integral person during the Watergate scandal that never wound up in the history books. Here is her story for forty minutes in clear detail and with the utmost care; the world will know her name.
3. The Elephant Whisperers
Watching this couple lovingly take care of a baby elephant in The Elephant Whisperers is soothing to the soul. The beautiful photography, languid pacing, and tenderness throughout this documentary is quite something. This barely constitutes as a short as it just hits the forty minute mark: I could have done with five hours of the warmth that The Elephant Whisperers provided.
2. 38 At The Garden
Slight bias: I am a basketball fanatic. Knowing the Jeremy Lin story from when it happened (“Linsanity”, as that moment in time was called), 38 at the Garden is a great visitation of this celebratory moment in sports history with the right perspective: the ripple effects Lin had on Asian American representation in pop culture and society. Amidst heightened, racist responses comes the progression that millions have fought for; Linsanity didn’t fix everything, but it certainly made an impact, as is covered here.
1. The Flagmakers
Flagmakers is an interesting documentary. It has a simple premise: observe those that stitch together flags for the United States of America for a living. You’ll find all walks of life, and this tiny glimpse of the workplace really puts a perspective on what it means to be an American citizen. Flagmakers left me thinking, but it also isn’t as heavy-handed as you’d think: its optimistic, neutral approach is quite effective.
For Your Consideration: Best Live Action Short Film
On one hand, the lower end of this list feels a little lacklustre, which is typical for live action shorts categories (it happens). On the other, the strongest shorts in this batch this year are essential viewing. They’re some of the best films I’ve seen this year of any kind. Let’s not waste any time.
15. Plastic Killer
Look: I like absurdity and things that are “different”. Plastic Killer feels a little out there, and not in a great way. It’s the kind of short that has a strange idea (a woman that mothers a plastic bag in a way that would make American Beauty feel put-off) that doesn’t really work in its runtime or inability to feel fleshed-out as a concept. I’m all for the bizarre when handled well.
14. Tula
The problem with some shorts is that they are, well, short. Tula has the seedling for a strong narrative idea (a private school custodian that offers to hear out the student daughter of a teacher that works there) that feels limited by its runtime, budget, and scale. I do get that many shorts are made to act as pitches for feature films down the road, and maybe Tula is that kind of film. There’s something there for sure.
13. An Irish Goodbye
I’ll catch some heat for this, I’m sure (as this short is quite popular). I find An Irish Goodbye hilarious and moving, but it also feels like a typical short: a basic concept that starts, continues, and ends. Once An Irish Goodbye is done, I felt disconnected from it. Still, it is a warm-yet-sad look at grief spearheaded by two funny leads that counter each other nicely (and you may feel compelled to call people “dickheads” for a day or two after you hear this banter).
12. Le pupille
On one hand, Le pupille is what I have brought up already for some short films on this list: a narrative that just temporarily exists and doesn’t leave much of an impression on me. On the other hand, it has that Alfonso Cuarón magic (he served as a producer here), which always helps. Le pupille is one of the nicest looking shorts of the bunch, and there’s a youthful charm to the film (a soaring, picture book quality) which helps the film keep going when its important-yet-half-baked story falters.
11. Votamos
What starts out promising ends in disaster, and I don’t mean the quality of Votamos but rather the mutual understanding between characters here. It may not be your thing to watch people getting confrontational with one another in this day and age, but this fourteen minute feud is quite indicative of the heated nature of society as it currently stands. It’s fitting, uncomfortable, and riveting.
10. Ivalu
A short look at desperation, Ivalu boils down Morten Dürr’s graphic novel of the same name into a sixteen minute representation of a girl’s quest to find her missing sister, which doesn’t really seem to affect other loved ones around her for some reason. Shot with beautiful cinematography and mysterious from frame one, Ivalu is worthwhile.
9. Nakam
Nakam feels like a fully fledged narrative that utilizes its half-hour duration quite economically. It is clearly fitting to have a tale of a Ukrainian rebel released in this past year, and Nakam does its best to convey a moral crossroads: does an act of terror benefit humanity if it is in the name of a nation? Nakam toys with its ethical compass, and it will leave you questioning the right course of action throughout.
8. Almost Home
Released during the tail end of a seemingly never-ending pandemic, Almost Home places us in space with two astronauts (a mother and son) that are anxious to return back to Earth; it has been hit with a plague, which thwarts their arrival. Unfortunately contemporary, gorgeously assembled (these sets are quite something for a short film), and poignant, Almost Home is a strong film.
7. The Treatment
While it is a simple premise (an addict doing whatever is necessary to kick their habits), Treatment goes in a direction that feels almost possible in a short film because of how confined it is (a concept isn’t fully explored because of the short duration, but Treatment makes the most of its crazy story by doing as much as it can and working in its short bursts). Would this work as a feature? Either way, I’d like to see that next.
6. The Right Words
This is kind of special. You believe you are watching one story — a young male student that doesn’t have the courage to ask his crush out — and are so fixated on how this will turn out that you miss what the actual true narrative here is; it hits you once it’s too late. The Right Words begs to be seen twice, and its commentary on the importance of knowing how to read the room (and always treat scenarios as properly as possible) is handled really well: the same advice doesn’t work for all situations.
5. Sideral
Breathtaking to look at and an incredibly moving short, Sideral is an example of how much can be conveyed in no time at all. It seems like it is going to be an ambitious quest to reach outer space, but really it is the gaze upon a curse that cannot be reverted: sometimes, being prophetic is not a blessing. Sideral had me shaken up just imagining what we are told will happen, and it’s a testament to how strong storytelling can overcome no time or budget to show what will eventually happen.
4. Nattirkken
We follow a streetcar operator one night. That’s it. And yet Nattirkken had me glued to the screen because of what happens during this unfortunate shift. It felt like I have known this driver my entire life with how she responds to turmoil — as if she has been waiting to stick-it to terrible passengers for years. Furthermore, how Nattirkken handles abuse, bullying, and intolerant behaviour is with severity and — at its tail end — both grace and love.
3. Warsha
I feel like I got two shorts with Warsha, which begins with a crane operator that is obviously harbouring his real self from those that won’t understand around him. It is the final act of this short (that’s how well constructed it is: it actually can have acts in such a little time frame) that had my jaw dropped: an exquisite act of escapist exploration. As someone that is afraid of heights to a crippling level, I never wanted to come down during that sequence of Warsha: an unforgettable image of pure freedom.
2. The Red Suitcase
On one hand, The Red Suitcase is full of political commentary, and it handles these themes with such precision. And then there’s the mystery surrounding the teen main character and her fixation on the titular suitcase while she is trying to travel, and it keeps you guessing the entire time. These eighteen minutes felt like an hour and a half in the best way possible: The Red Suitcase contained the emotional roller coaster of an entire feature in a mere percentage of the length. Don’t miss this one: it’s stunning and enrapturing.
1. O Lobo Solitário
Wow. I haven’t had a short make me feel sick to my stomach like this in quite a while. O Lobo Solitário is a brooding, single-shot masterpiece surrounding a late night radio DJ who gets the worst call-in of his lifetime. This short is beyond thrilling, and its open ended conclusion had my head spinning for hours: who do I believe in this instance? You don’t want to miss this one. It is a pulverizing short that I still haven’t shaken off days later.
Nomination Predictions:
In no particular order (and these picks also have little to do with my own personal preference, but rather their awards season success thus far):
Animation: Ice Merchants, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, New Moon, Save Ralph, An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It
Documentary: How Do You Measure A Year?, The Elephant Whisperers, The Flagmakers, 38 at the Garden, Holding Moses
Live Action: The Red Suitcase, Le pupille, O Lobos Solitário, Warsha, An Irish Goodbye
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.