past event
2023 OSCAR SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL
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Online ticketing closes 2 hours before showtime. Tickets will remain available in person at the event.
• Documentary Shorts, 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, FEB. 24, $20
• Live Action Shorts, 1 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25, $12
• Animated Shorts, 3:30 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25, $12
• Live Action Shorts, 6 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25, $12
• Double Feature Option 1: Live Action & Animated Shorts, 1 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25, $20
• Double Feature Option 2: Animated & Live Action Shorts, 3:30 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25, $20
Location: Mill Hill Playhouse, Trenton
Admission includes complimentary packaged snacks between screenings and at intermission during the Documentary Shorts program Friday night.
See below for descriptions of all 15 2023 Oscar-nominated films.
With all three categories of Oscar-nominated short films – Animated, Live Action and Documentary – this is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)!
The Academy Awards ceremony takes place Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Documentary Short Film Nominees
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6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, FEB. 24
Suitable for adults and children 13 and up.
How Do You Measure a Year?
Jay Rosenblatt, USA/29 MINS/2022
For 17 years, filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt filmed his daughter Ella on her birthday in the same spot, asking the same questions. What results is a unique chance to watch time, to see a young woman come into focus physically, mentally and emotionally.
The Elephant Whisperers
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga, INDIA/39 MINS/2022
The Elephant Whisperers follows an indigenous couple as they fall in love with Raghu, an orphaned elephant given into their care, and tirelessly work to ensure his recovery and survival.
Stranger at the Gate
Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones, USA/30 MINS/2022
From Executive Producer Malala Yousafzai. After 25 years of service, a US Marine filled with hatred for Muslims plots to bomb an Indiana mosque. When he comes face to face with the immigrants he seeks to kill, the story takes a shocking twist toward compassion, grace, and forgiveness.
Haulout
Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev, UK, RUSSIA/25 MINS/2022
On a remote coast of the Siberian Arctic in a wind-battered hut, a lonely man waits to witness an ancient gathering. But warming seas and rising temperatures bring an unexpected change, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed.
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison, USA/39 MINS/2022
She was once as famous as Jackie O. And then she tried to take down a President. The Martha Mitchell Effect is an archival documentary portrait of the unlikeliest of whistleblowers: Martha Mitchell, a Republican cabinet wife who was gaslighted by the Nixon Administration to keep her quiet. It offers a female gaze on Watergate through the voice of the woman herself.
Animated Short Film Nominees
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3:30 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25
Four of the films are suitable for kids 10 and up, but the final film, MY YEAR OF DICKS, is for adult audiences only.
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It
Lachlan Pendragon, AUSTRALIA/11 MINS/2022
When a young telemarketer is confronted by a mysterious talking ostrich, he learns that the universe is stop motion animation. He must put aside his dwindling toaster sales and focus on convincing his colleagues of his terrifying discovery.
The Flying Sailor
Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, CANADA/7 MINS/2022
In 1917, two ships collided in the Halifax Harbour, causing the largest accidental explosion in history. Among the tragic stories of the disaster is the remarkable account of a sailor who, blown skyward from the docks, flew a distance of two kilometres before landing uphill, naked and unharmed. The Flying Sailor is a contemplation of his journey.
Ice Merchants
JoĂŁo Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano, PORTUGAL, UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE/14 MINS/2022
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud, UK/34 MINS/2022
In 1917, two ships collided in the Halifax Harbour, causing the largest accidental explosion in history. Among the tragic stories of the disaster is the remarkable account of a sailor who, blown skyward from the docks, flew a distance of two kilometres before landing uphill, naked and unharmed. The Flying Sailor is a contemplation of his journey.
My Year of Dicks
Sara GunnarsdĂłttir and Pamela Ribon, USA/24 MINS/2022
An imaginative 15-year-old is stubbornly determined to lose her virginity despite the pathetic pickings in the outskirts of Houston in the early 90's. Created by Pamela Ribon from her critically-acclaimed memoir.
Live Action Short Film Nominees
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1 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25
6 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 25
The Live Action films are suitable for adults and children 13 and up.
Ivalu
Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan, DENMARK/16 MINS/2022
Ivalu is gone. Her little sister is desperate to find her. Her father does not care. The vast Greenlandic nature holds secrets. Where is Ivalu?
Night Ride
Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen, NORWAY/15 MINS/2020
It is a cold night in December. As Ebba waits for the tram, an unexpected turn of events transforms the ride home into something she was not expecting.
Le Pupille
Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso CuarĂłn, ITALY, USA/37 MINS/2022
From writer and director, Alice Rohrwacher, and Academy Award® winning producer, Alfonso Cuarón, “Le Pupille” is a tale of innocence, greed and fantasy. This live action short is about desires, pure and selfish, about freedom and devotion, and about the anarchy that is capable of flowering in the minds of girls within the confines of a strict religious boarding school at Christmas.
The Red Suitcase
Cyrus Neshvad, LUXEMBOURG/18 MINS/2022
An Iranian girl decides to remove her Headscarf/Hijab in a life changing situation.
An Irish Goodbye
Tom Berkeley and Ross White, IRELAND/23 MINS/2022
On a farm in rural Northern Ireland, estranged brothers Turlough and Lorcan are forced to reunite following the untimely death of their mother.