"2009 Oscar Shorts"
"2009 Oscar Shorts Trailer" - First Look
"2009 Oscar Shorts" - In Movie Theaters February 6, 2009
"2009 Oscar Shorts" - For the first time ever all ten Oscar nominated Short Films will get a theatrical release - during one program - before the Oscar ceremony for which they are nominated takes place. Five short animated films. Five live action short films. Here's the list and the skinny on all ten. Run to whichever theater near you, if you can find one, showing these ten shorts. They are all great and deserve to be seen on the big screen. Also among the shorts in the line up; short films that were in consideration for Oscars but didn't make the final cut. They're just as good, too.
ANIMATION
LAVATORY – LOVESTORY
RUSSIA/10 MINS/2007
Writer/Director: Konstantin Bronzit
Producers: Alexander Boyarsky, Sergey Selyakov
Music: Valentin Vasenkov
A lonely toilet attendant attempts to uncover the identity of her secret admirer.
Director's Biography: Konstantin Bronzit has earned degrees in art, industrial design, screenwriting and directing. In 1988, Bronzit made his first animated film The Roundabout and began drawing cartoons for magazines and newspapers. From 1993 until 1995, Konstantin worked as a scriptwriter, director and animator at Pilot Studios in Moscow. His Shorts Switchcraft, Pacifier, Knock-Knock, Die Hard, At the Ends of the Earth and The God have received more than 50 awards from festivals worldwide. In 2004, Bronzit directed his first full-length animated feature, Melnitsa's Alosha as well as the short film The Cat and the Fox.
LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES (PIECES OF LOVE, VOL 1)
JAPAN/12 MINS/2008
Writer/Director: Kunio Kato
Producers: Kusakabe Masanori, Yuko Shin
Music: Kenji Kondo
An old man battles to save his house in an attempt to beat the rising tide.
Director's Biography: While studying graphic design at Tama Art University, Kunio Kato won various awards for his animated short films. Later, Kunio joined Robot Communications, Inc., creating animations for advertising and television programming.
OKTAPODI
FRANCE/3 MINS/2007
Directors: Julien Bocabeille, Francois-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, Emud Mokhberi
Music: Kenny Wood
Two Octopi fight for their lives in a comical escape through the streets of a small Greek village.
Filmmakers Biography: The filmmakers are all recent graduates of Gobelins, Ecole de L'Image.
THIS WAY UP
UK/9 MINS/2008
Directors: Smith & Foulkes
Writers: Christopher O'Reilly, Smith & Foulkes
Producers: Charlotte Bavasso and Christopher O'Reilly
Co-Producer: Christine Ponzevera
Music: John Greswell, Christopher Taylor
Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble.
Directors' Biography: Smith & Foulkes graduated from the Royal College of Art animation course in 1997, going on to join producers Christopher O'Reilly and Charlotte Bavasso at animation studio Nexus. They have gone on to develop a reputation as one of London's top animation teams with a portfolio that spans short films, music videos, commercials and film title sequences. Credits include the title sequence for Thunderbirds and the animated 'film within a film' for DreamWorks and Paramount's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. They have also directed for the BBC's animated comedy show Monkey Dust. Their commercial work has won them numerous awards and accolades including the Grand Prix Award at Cannes Lions, a Grandy at the Andys, an ITV Award for Best Commercial and two Golds at the D&AD awards. They were the most awarded commercial directors in the US and Europe in 2006.
HIGHLY COMMENDED
VARMINTS
UK/24 mins/2008
Writer/Director: Marc Craste
Producer: Sue Goffe
Music: Jóhann Jóhannsson
A creature struggles to preserve a world in danger of being destroyed through recklessness and indifference.
JOHN AND KAREN
UK/5 mins/2007
Writer/Director: Matthew Walker
Producer: Sarah Cox
Music: Oliver Davis, Tom Russell
Two animals attempt to resolve their relationship issues.
GOPHER BROKE
USA/4 mins/2004
Produced by: BLUR Studio
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
SKHIZEIN
France/14 mins/2008
Director: Jérémy Clapin
Writer: Jérémy Clapin, Stéphane Piera
Producers: Wendy Griffiths, Stéphane Piera
Music: Nicolas Martin
Poor Henry has been struck by a meteorite and yet, miraculously, he’s still here. Well, not exactly ‘here’, just a few centimetres further along than the rest of us. 91 centimetres to be precise!
HOT DOG
USA/6 mins/2008
Writer/Director: Bill Plympton
Producer: Biljana Labovic
Music: Cory A. Jackson
An intrepid dog goes to work for the fire department.
LIVE ACTION
AUF DER STRECKE (ON THE LINE)
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND/30 MINS/2007
Director: Reto Caffi
Writers: Philippe Zweifel, Reto Caffi
Producers: Academy of Media Arts, Cologne
Co-Producers: Blush Films, Zurich/Swiss Television SF TV
Director of Photography: Piotr Rosolowski
Editor: Thomas Bachmann
Production Designers: Corinne Dettwiler, Sandra Salvatore
Music: Ivo Ubezio, Daniel Jakob, Oli Kuster
Cast: Roeland Wiesnekker, Catherine Janke, Leonardo Nigro, Hanspeter Bader, Julie Bräuning
A department store security guard is secretly infatuated with a clerk in the store's bookshop. When he witnesses a love rival being attacked on a train, he abandons him. A decision that carries with it devastating consequences.
Director's Biography: Raised in Bern, Reto Caffi studied English and Communications at the University of Bern and Fribourg. After graduating, Caffi worked as a cultural journalist for Swiss Radio International and for Swiss National Television, as well as for various print media. Caffi then undertook post-graduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. Auf der Strecke is his sixth film as director.
GRISEN (THE PIG)
DENMARK/22 MINS/2008
Director: Dorte Høgh
Writers: Anders August, Dorte Høgh
Producers: Tivi Magnusson, Johanne Stryhn Hørby, Christian Potalivo
Director of Photography: Jens Schlosser
Editor: Henrik Vincent Thiesen
Music: Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
Cast: Henning Moritzen, Trine Pallesen, Farshad Kholghi, Jesper Asholt, Camilla Søeberg
When Asbjorn is admitted to hospital, he finds comfort in a painting of a whimsical pig - until it is removed by the request of another patient.
Director's Biography: After a decade working in television and radio, Dorte Høgh attended The National Film School of Denmark where she graduated as a screenwriter in 1999.
Since then she has written scripts for television and film such as the short film Herretoilettet, the popular dramatic series Nikolaj & Julie and the feature films The Inheritance and Manslaughter, the former of which won Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2003.
The Pig is Dorte's directorial debut.
MANON SUR LE BITUME (MANON ON THE ASPHALT)
FRANCE/15 MINS/2007
Writer/Directors: Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
Producer: Sébastien Hussenot
Director of Photography: Pierric Gantelmi d'llle
Editor: Marcela Figueroa
Music: Christophe Julien
Cast: Aude Léger, Xavier Boiffier
What really flashes before your eyes at the end? It’s a lovely spring day and Manon is on her way to a rendezvous with her boyfriend when an unexpected bump in the road makes her see life from an entirely fresh perspective.
Director's Biography: After completing a Master's Law Degree at the University Paris II, Elizabeth Marre successfully passed the French Bar Exam. At the same time, she pursued acting classes and worked as a 1st Assistant Director on feature films. Olivier Pont grew up in the French Riviera. He passed a Scientific Baccalauréat and then graduated from the CFT Gobelins, the French National Animation School. He worked as an animator for three years at Steven Spielberg's Amblimation Studio in London. Searching for independence and personal creativity, he decided to develop his own stories and became a comic strip artist. Olivier edited eight comic books, including the diptych Où le Regard ne porte pas… which met with great critical and public acclaim.
Marre and Pont have written and directed two short films together: That Little Spark (La Petite Flamme) in 2005 and Manon sur le Bitume in 2007. They are now working on their first feature film.
NEW BOY
IRELAND/11 MINS/2007
Writer/Director: Steph Green
Producer: Tamara Anghie
Director of Photography: P.J. Dillon
Editor: Lee Hickey
Scenic Designers: Francis Taaffe, Shannon Scrofano
Costume Designers: Allison Byrne, Sandra Burns
Music: Len Arran
Cast: Olutunji Ebun-Cole, Norma Sheahan, Simon O'Driscoll, Sinead Maguire, Fionn O'Shea, Byron Kumbula
Based on a Roddy Doyle short story, a young African immigrant struggles to find a place for himself during his first day at an Irish school.
Director's Biography: Steph Green is an Irish-American writer/director. Her short films and commercials have been featured in the Cannes Lions Young Director's showcase, Young Guns Advertising Awards as well as noted film festivals around the world. Her recent short, New Boy, has won over 20 international festivals. Steph has had the privilege of working with mentors such as Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay, Fredrik Bond and Alan Poul. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and University College Dublin and splits her time between Los Angeles and Dublin.
Steph is currently developing feature film projects in Ireland and the US.
SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)
GERMANY/14 MINS/2007
Director: Jochen Alexander Freydank
Writers: Johann A. Bunners, Jochen Alexander Freydank
Producer: Jochen Alexander Freydank
Director of Photography: Christoph "Cico" Nicolaisen
Editor: Anna Kappelmann
Production Designer: Maja Zogg
Music: Ingo Ludwig Frenzel
Cast: Julia Jäger, Cedric Eich, Tamay Bulut Özvatan, Tortsen Michaelis, Claudia Hübschmann
Germany 1942. A mother convinces her son that the Jewish neighbors are going on a journey to 'Toyland'.
Director's Biography: Jochen Alexander Freydank was born 1969 in East Berlin. He directed fringe theater, commercials and short films. He started his film career as a first assistant director and editor before becoming a screenwriter for TV and Film. At present he works as a producer of a TV series while preparing for his first feature film as a director.
"2009 Oscar Shorts" MOVIE SHOWTIMES
"2009 Oscar Shorts" Discount Movie Tickets
Evening and Weekend Shows
COMPLETE LIST OF THEATERS & SHOWTIMES FOR "2009 Oscar Shorts"
Register for Upcoming "2009 Oscar Shorts" Free Advance Movie Screenings and/or ROE Passes (Coming Soon)
Complete 2006 - 2012 Theatrical Movie Release Schedule
