Oscar Shorts: Live Action

The five nominees for Best Live Action Short Film this year touch on life in Somalia, Afghanistan, Belgium, the USA and Canada.

Death of a Shadow (Tom Van Avermaet, Belgium/France, 20 min)

A strange ghost story set in the aftermath of WWI.

Henry (Yan England, Canada, 21 min)

A mystery about a concert pianist, and the sudden disappearance of his great love.

Curfew (Shawn Christensen, USA, 19 min)

The tale of a man at the end of his tether who gets an unexpected call from his estranged sister, asking him to babysit his 9-year-old niece.

Buzkashi Boys (Sam French, Afghanistan/USA, 28 min)

This short takes us behind the headlines to view the story of two boys - a street urchin and a blacksmith’ s son - reaching manhood in wartorn Kabul.

Asad (Bryan Buckley, South Africa/USA, 18 min)

A young man must choose between the honest life of a fisherman or falling into piracy. This coming of age fable is performed by a cast of Somali refugees.