2023 Oscars Challenge: [Short Film #15] “How Do You Measure A Year?” (One Nomination)

SHORT #15

OF 15

95TH ACADEMY AWARDS | 2023 OSCARS CHALLENGE
“HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR?”
MARCH 11, 2023
GOOGLE DRIVE

DAY 47

OF 48

Best Documentary Short Film
Jay Rosenblatt

Jay Rosenblatt is back at the Oscars for the second year with another Documentary Short about his life. “How Do You Measure A Year?” is home video footage of Jay’s daughter, Ella, who he records once a year on her birthday, asking her the same handful of questions. It’s a version of making notches on the door frame to mark a child’s height, but with a video camera. It allows a more in-depth look at the progression of the human mind as it grows. Ella goes from a lovable, cute little kid to an angsty teen and then to an appreciative young woman, going from two years old to eighteen and leaving for college. Ultimately, watching someone grow right before your eyes for thirty minutes is fascinating. Still, it feels like home video footage with very little thought given to the editing, pacing, or shot selection. At one point, an older Ella asks why her whole body wasn’t in the frame to show her growth. However, I commend Jay on his consistency over that many years.

PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS

From the time she was two years old and until she turned 18, they had a ritual: Dad asked (and filmed), and Ella answered. What do you dream about? What scares you? What do you think about our relationship? This is a little story about growing up and the love between father and daughter.

Directed by Jay Rosenblatt
Jay Rosenblatt Films
May 27, 2022
29 minutes

ACCOLADES

DocAviv Film Festival — Best Short Film (Nominee)
Dokufest Intl Documentary/Short Film Festival — Short Dox Award (Nominee)
IndieLisboa Intl Independent Film Festival — Best Short Film (Nominee)
Krakow Film Festival — Best Short Film [Winner]
Locarno Intl Film Festival — Auteur Competition (Nominee)
Nashville Film Festival — Best Documentary Short (Nominee)
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts — Intl Competition/Fiction-Documentary [Winner]

EXPERT PREDICTIONS

1. “The Elephant Whisperers”
2.“How Do You Measure a Year?”
3. “Stranger at the Gate”
4. “The Martha Mitchell Effect”
5. “Haulout”

PERSONAL PREDICTIONS

1. “The Elephant Whisperers”
2. “Haulout”
3. “Stranger at the Gate”
4. “The Martha Mitchell Effect”
5. “How Do You Measure a Year?”