Oscar Shorts this year take a dark, powerful turn

This year’s Oscar short-film nominees present a strange and moving palate for the viewer. Don’t expect to come out of the theater untouched by one or more of these offerings.

Stories in general are about the human condition. These 10 short films are more so, throwing the human condition in our faces in raw format, telling tales straightforward and basic, that get to the gist of what life is about. Almost all are specifically about family connections – father and daughter, sibling and sibling, husband and wife.

Animation:

“Daughter” (“Dcera”)

In a man’s hospital room, his daughter flashes back to a moment when she tried to share an experience with an injured bird with her father. This film sucks the watcher in with its stop-motion darkness as we look at the faces and startling eyes, carried away in the starkness of a child’s imagination and the revelation of her view of her relationship with her father.

“Hair Love”

This is another film exploring a father/daughter relationship as a little girl turns to her father to fix her hair for a special day in both of their lives. The machinations of this child to get things right are delightful, and this short doesn’t need the twist at the end.

“Kitbull”

“Kitbull” is the only film in either category that is about animals, as a stray kitten and a pit bull forge a bond and find connection. This charming piece is well conceived and put together. The art of animation plays second fiddle to the story and doesn’t impose itself like it does in some of the other pieces.

“Mémorable”

A painter, Louis, experiences some strange, mutating events as furniture, objects and people lose their realism in his world. The animation in this film is beautiful, an integral and fascinating part of the story as the things and people around him change and his wife tries to grapple with what is happening to her husband.

“Sister”

In “Sister,” a man thinks back to his childhood memories of growing up with an annoying little sister in China in the 1990s and wonders what his life would be like if things had gone differently. This touching piece creates a resonance with all of us who grew up with the frustrations and loyalties of dealing with siblings, as well as those of us who didn’t.

Live Action:

“A Sister”

A night. A car. Alie is in trouble, and she must make the most important call of her life. This is one of those films that starts from one point of view and flips abruptly to another, opening a whole new perspective, and then slides into a different point entirely and works well.

“Brotherhood”

Three brothers in Tunisia, reunited after one left to join ISIS and returned with a 14-year-old wife, face their different relationships with their father and share moments of joy with each other. The father is a down-to-earth shepherd, and the most striking part of this disturbing piece is the way he relates to his sheep and his children.

“Nefta Football Club”

Two young brothers come across a donkey in the desert. Strangely, the animal is wearing headphones over its ears. Set in Morocco, this is the second film (the first one being “Brotherhood”) where lack of communication between family members plays a huge part in the way the film ends. This film has moments of humor that could be very funny if only the viewer didn’t have worry about the characters while the funny parts are happening.

“Saria”

“Saria” is the tale of two inseparable orphaned sisters, Saria and Ximena, as they fight against daily abuse and unimaginable hardship at Virgen de la Asuncion Safe Home in Guatemala. The story follows the real events leading up to the tragic fire in 2017 that claimed the lives of 41 orphaned girls. Saria and Ximena face horrendous events around them as they maintain the nature, hopes and dreams experienced by every teen-aged girl.

“The Neighbors’ Window”

Alli is the mother of three small children. She is frustrated with the daily grind and a little tired of her husband. Then a young couple move into an apartment across the street, where they never draw the blinds, and Alli’s frustration and fascination grows as she watches them love life, having sex and throwing fabulous parties all the time. This was not the only one of these shorts that made me cry, but certainly the one that shot the biggest arrow through my heart.