DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM SHORTLIST:
| “Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa” |
| “Call Center Blues” |
| “Colette” |
| “A Concerto Is a Conversation” |
| “Do Not Split” |
| “Hunger Ward” |
| “Hysterical Girl” |
| “A Love Song for Latasha” |
| “The Speed Cubers” |
| “What Would Sophia Loren Do?” |
Today, the Academy announced the shortlist for the Best Documentary Short category as part of the delayed 93rd Academy Awards. One hundred fourteen shorts were eligible for a nomination and the Academy’s Documentary Branch members parred it down to these ten films. As I have not seen any of these films, I’ve picked the five that, from their synopsis, sounds like the fare normally chosen by the Academy. I could end up being way off, so don’t make any money bets off of these.
Per the Academy’s press release:
Nominations voting begins on Friday, March 5, 2021, and concludes on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.
Nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, March 15, 2021.
The 93rd Oscars® will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS
“Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa”
Attie & Goldwater Productions
“Colette”
Guardian Docs
“Do Not Split”
AFI Docs
“A Love Song For Latasha”
Netflix
“What Would Sophia Loren Do?”
Netflix
#1: “ABORTION HELPLINE, THIS IS LISA” — Attie & Goldwater Productions
IMDB Synopsis: At the Philadelphia abortion helpline, counselors answer non-stop calls from women and teens who cannot afford access to reproductive health care in America.
#2: “COLETTE” — GUARDIANS DOCS
IMDB Synopsis: Nazi occupied France. Resistance took courage. Seventy-five years later, Facing one’s ghosts may take even more.
#3: “Do Not Split” — AFI DOCS
IMDB Synopsis: In 2019 Hong Kong was rocked by the largest protests since Britain handed back the area to China in 1997. This is the story of the protests, told through a series of demonstrations by local protesters that escalate into conflict when highly armed police appear on the scene.
#4: “A Love Song for Latasha” — NETFLIX
IMDB Synopsis: The injustice surrounding the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at a South Central Los Angeles store became a flashpoint for the city’s 1992 civil uprising.
#5: “What Would Sophia Loren Do?” — NETFLIX
IMDB Synopsis: An Italian-American grandmother and film buff finds strength and joy in the life of her screen idol, Sophia Loren.
“CALL CENTER BLUES” — MULTITUDE FILMS
IMDB Synopsis: Call Center Blues is a lyrical portrait of an unlikely community of US deportees and their loved ones struggling to rebuild their lives in Tijuana, Mexico.
“A Concerto Is a Conversation” — BREAKWATER STUDIOS
IMDB Synopsis: A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“Hunger Ward” — VULCAN PRODUCTIONS
IMDB Synopsis: Filmed from inside two of the most active therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen, HUNGER WARD documents two female health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of a forgotten war. The film provides an unflinching portrait of Dr. Aida Alsadeeq and Nurse Mekkia Mahdi as they try to save the lives of hunger-stricken children within a population on the brink of famine.
“Hysterical Girl”
IMDB Synopsis: Sigmund Freud’s sole case study of a female patient is re-examined from a modern feminist perspective.
“The Speed Cubers” — NETFLIX
IMDB Synopsis: Discover the special bond — and uncommon competitive spirit — shared by the world’s Rubik’s Cube-solving record breakers in this documentary.
