Audience Member
A wonderful collection of shorts that, for my third year seeing them, seemed a tad high-budget, but all very enjoyable. Also, there was not a comedic entry, which was unusual. All were dramatic and, frankly, depressing. However, the clear winner to me was "Henry." Not only was it the first short film to make me cry, but the story, acting and the way the film progressed and showed his mental deterioration, symbolically represented in lights turning off and moving from room to room, was just brilliant. It was a heartbreaking film and one of the best shorts I've ever seen. "Buzkashi Boys" was probably the best filmed, though, in the heart of Kabul. However, the story was a bit predictable and forced. The acting was so good, though. The unique "Death of a Shadow" was unlike any short I've seen nominated before, with what seemed to be an astronomical budget for such a short film. It almost seemed unfair. The bottom two for me were "Curfew," which is perhaps unfair too as it reflected what I'm used to in short films, which is low-budget, independent, average acting, and the bottom of the list, "Asad." Sadly, preliminary reports indicate "Asad" is the frontrunner. I hope that isn't the case.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
06/19/18
Full Review
Jeffrey N
A wonderful collection of shorts that, for my third year seeing them, seemed a tad high-budget, but all very enjoyable. Also, there was not a comedic entry, which was unusual. All were dramatic and, frankly, depressing. However, the clear winner to me was "Henry." Not only was it the first short film to make me cry, but the story, acting and the way the film progressed and showed his mental deterioration, symbolically represented in lights turning off and moving from room to room, was just brilliant. It was a heartbreaking film and one of the best shorts I've ever seen. "Buzkashi Boys" was probably the best filmed, though, in the heart of Kabul. However, the story was a bit predictable and forced. The acting was so good, though. The unique "Death of a Shadow" was unlike any short I've seen nominated before, with what seemed to be an astronomical budget for such a short film. It almost seemed unfair. The bottom two for me were "Curfew," which is perhaps unfair too as it reflected what I'm used to in short films, which is low-budget, independent, average acting, and the bottom of the list, "Asad." Sadly, preliminary reports indicate "Asad" is the frontrunner. I hope that isn't the case.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
10/09/14
Full Review
Patrick G
Henry made me cry. That's right. A movie made me cry.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/11/13
Full Review
Wade W
"Death of a Shadow" and "Henry" are not to be missed...
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/09/13
Full Review
Chris M
Wow, very impressed with the short films in this year's collection of nominees. It's particularly notable that three of them are carried by excellent child actors.
Death of a Shadow (Belgium): An unrecognizable Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone) plays a dead soldier given a second chance by the Grim Reaper in exchange for labouring at a peculiar task. Notable for it's beautiful steampunk-esque art direction and quirky concept.
Henri (Canada): Great performances, though the story treads familiar ground in this Alzheimer's case study.
Curfew (USA): Winner Shawn Christensen also co-stars with cutie Fatima Ptacek in this tale of suicide averted. Possibly the most memorable bowling alley scene you will see in a movie for some time.
Buzkashi Boys (Afghanistan): Two young Kabul boys explore their hopes for the future, both fantastical and pragmatic. Stunning cinematography and if you even wanted to see men play polo with a dead goat, this is your film.
Asad (South Africa): This is undoubtedly my favourite of the five. A Somali boy fails to join a pirate gang so tries his hand at fishing, and with the help of an old man catches something surprising! Packs buddy comedy, a tense gun standoff, tender family moments and the best ending of any film I have seen in a while into a lean 18 minutes.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/03/13
Full Review
Joe H
These were great... The French film ("Henry") was good, but of course paled in comparison to Haneke's "Amour"; "Death of a Shadow" is engaging and truly original; "Buzkashi Boys" was an important contribution from Afghanistan; and although I thought "Asad" was the best film in this category -- with non-professional actors, all Somali refugees -- and should be seen by everyone, I wasn't disappointed that "Curfew" walked with the award... it was a heartfelt film about family, fucked-up people, and second chances.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/27/13
Full Review
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