Academy Award-Nominated Shorts at TSL
Unless you attend a lot of film festivals, it’s unlikely you’ve seen the ten short films nominated for Oscars. Time and Space Limited offers remedy: the five animated and five live-action films will be screened there this week. As A.O. Scott of the New York Times points out, “...the Oscar shorts offer a more accurate, more complete glimpse of the state of cinema than the features.” Specifically, that the distinction between domestic and foreign-made products is an artificial one: Cinematically, we are one world, indivisible. Which does not suggest that shorts are no different from features: unfettered by commercial concerns, they have a better shot at expressing a singular vision, sometimes using devices, such as little or no dialogue, that would be insupportable in the longer form.
Animated
“Lavatory Lovestory” by Konstantin Bronzit, a charming 10-minutes, line-drawn animation from Russia in which a bathroom attendant searches frantically for her secret admirer.
“La Maison en Petits Cubes (House of Small Cubes)” by Kunio Kato from Japan; a wistfully charming hand-drawn meditation on climate change and the passage of time. In it a lumpy, little man stares out of his apartment window at a flooded city, dives to retrieve his favorite pipe, and rediscovers the past, submerged in his memory.
“Oktapodi” from Gobelins, l’École de l’Image, France;
“Presto” by first-time director Doug Sweetland, from Pixar (United States), this one accompanied showings of Wall-E in some theaters. It depicts a battle of wits between Presto, the magician, and his recalcitrant rabbit.
“This Way Up” by Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes, Britain. In which two undertakers must contend with overzealous deer hunters, a hungry vulture and a boulder as they try to escort the body of a sweet little old lady to her final resting place.
“Oktapodi” an award-winning student film in which two amorous octopi find their romance threatened when one is sold to a cook on a minuscule Greek island; a long, multi-limbed, slapstick chase scene ensues.
Live-action
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” A much-heralded 30-minutes student film in which a department store security guard, secretly in love with a clerk, follows her onto a train and witnesses a seeming-rival being attacked. A solemn study of guilt by Reto Caffi, Switzerland and Germany
“Grisen (The Pig)” A patient in a hospital finds comfort in a painting a whimsical pig, until another patient asks that it be removed. By Dorthe Warno Hogh, Denmark;
“Manon Sur le Bitumen (Manon on the Asphalt)”, a lyrical elegy for a young woman, who, on her way to a rendezvous with her boyfriend, hits a bump in the road that makes her see life from an entirely fresh perspective by Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont, France;
“New Boy” by Steph Green, based on a short story by Roddy Doyle, a poignant and comedic look at being the new boy in school, through the eyes of Joseph, a nine-year-old African.
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A mother convinces her son that their Jewish neighbors are going on a journey to “Toyland.” By Jochen Alexander Freydank, Germany.
Animated
Thursday, Feb 12th: 7:30
Saturday, Feb 14th: 3:30
Sunday, Feb 15th: 5:30
Live Action.
Friday, Feb 13th: 5:30
Saturday, Feb 14th: 7:30
Sunday, Feb 15th: 7:30
Time & Space Limited
434 Columbia Street, Hudson; 518.822.8100
Admission: $7/general, $5/members, students
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/05/09 at 12:37 PM • Permalink
