97th Oscar-Nominated Shorts (Live Action)
A Lien (Short Film)
Rating
Director
David Cutler-Kreutz, Sam Cutler-Kreutz
Screenplay
David Cutler-Kreutz, Sam Cutler-Kreutz
Length
15m
Starring
Victoria Ratermanis, William Martinez
MPAA Rating
Not Rated
Review
In our first alphabetical nominee in the Live Action Short Film category, we have A Lien. The title doesn’t make sense until you see the film (or you hear the Oscar nomination announcer say “Alien”). The title doesn’t quite fit the short itself but it’s not bad. The film shows us the inside of a government facility where a young married couple are finishing up the paperwork to make her husband a legal citizen of the United States. When an ICE raid closes the facility and imperils their attempts to get right with the law, the American wife goes on a desperate journey to save her husband and their American daughter from deportation.
With the rise to power of the militant anti-immigrant faction in the US, scenes like these will become ever more common. Legal pathways to citizenship will close up and even if the process has already begun, ICE will continue to use such government buildings as a feeding ground for illegal immigrants so they can keep their quotas. While fictionalized, this story is identified as being one that frequently occurs in the U.S. even before the new administration took office. It puts a human face to the struggles Americans and immigrants face when trying to do things the right way but facing obstacles at every turn. Victoria Ratermanis as the wife is especially effective while William Martinez as her husband helps their relationship feel authentic. We don’t get much of Koralyn Rivera as their daughter but it’s enough to be affecting.
While this short does have a beginning, middle, and end, that ending is amorphous, a brief respite in a harrowing story. The tension is well maintained and by the time the final act reveals itself, you’re so emotionally invested that you hope upon hope for an outcome you are certain will not come. That’s the potency of this narrative. It is easily one of the better short films this year even if not my personal favorite of them.
Anuja (Short Film)
Rating
Director
Adam J. Graves
Screenplay
Adam J. Graves
Length
22m
Starring
Nagesh Bhonsle, Rudolfo Rajeev Hubert, Sajda Pathan, Ananya Shanbhag, Gulshan Walia
MPAA Rating
TV-14
Review
Set in the slums of Dehli, India, two sisters make ends meet working in a garment factory. The eldest, Palak, sews and the youngest, Anuja, does odd jobs. Both are likely employed illegally due to their ages and thus the cycle of poverty perpetuates. When a well-meaning teacher comes to offer the math prodigy Anuja a place at his class, the greedy factory owner sees a loss of one of his best workers. Giving Anuja an ultimatum, the factory owner threatens to fire Palak if she doesn’t agree to be his accountant instead of seeking a better life.
While the sisters find bliss when they can, it’s clear that they understand their positions within society and the economy and fear any upheaval to that. They are among the lost children with no parents and no means who must work in a system that treats them as slaves rather than independent women. Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag make great impressions as the young sisters, which enables their story to feel authentic and engaging. Even Nagesh Bhonsle as the factory owner gives the audience a lived-in feeling. He isn’t the moustache-twirling villain you would expect, just the cold calculating one that makes him all the more dangerous.
Were it not for how often the film felt like a trifle, it might be even more successful. Leaving a mystery for the end after all of that accomplished build-up is incredibly disappointing. For a film like this, finding success is always important while the middle act certainly gives the audience some joy, the finale leaves them feeling unfulfilled.
I’m Not a Robot (Short Film)
Rating
Director
Victoria Warmerdam
Screenplay
Victoria Warmerdam
Length
22m
Starring
Ellen Parren, Henry van Loon, Thekla Reuten, Juliette van Ardenne, Asma El Mouden, Sophie Höppener, Joep Vermolen
MPAA Rating
Not Rated
Review
It’s a cliché these days to make jokes about those “I’m Not a Robot” CAPTCHA tests. They’ve lost some of their bite since most people don’t even know what robot they are referring to but in I’m Not a Robot, the answer just might be you.
Lara (Ellen Parren) is preparing to return to work when her computer prompts her to confirm she’s not a robot. She tries to complete all of the CAPTCHA tests but it always comes back the same. In a panic when IT won’t assist, her husband (Henry van Loon) arrives with a tech company executive (Thekla Reuten) in tow to explain to her that she is, in fact, a robot. The ensuing drama surrounding Lara’s insistence that she cannot be a robot makes for a delightfully droll tête-à-tête between her and Daniel and Pam.
It is very difficult to turn a successful, if perhaps badly beaten, dead-horse and breathe new life into it. I’m Not a Robot manages to avoid the cringe-worthy excesses that might have been employed by American filmmakers and turned it into a compelling and thought-provoking short film. It examines the excesses of wealth, the commodification of love, and the insidious desire to own another human without thorny humanitarian concerns. It was ably explored and while the ending certainly could have been expanded, it ended without overstaying its welcome and still felt satisfying.
The Last Ranger (Short Film)
Rating
Director
Cindy Lee
Screenplay
David S. Lee, Darwin Shaw, Will Hawkes
Length
28m
Starring
Avumile Qongqo, Liyabona Mroqoza, Makhaola Ndebele, David S. Lee, Waldemar Schultz
MPAA Rating
Not Rated
Review
Deep within South Africa, a story that could have felt at home within British colonization of that nation, a modern story unwinds about a young girl and the game reserve that sparks something special within her.
The live action shorts this year had a much better ability to open and close without feeling unfulfilling. This is perhaps the most complete story of them all with no loose ends left over. It follows two stories with winding threads through them. Khuselwa (Avumile Qongqo) is a ranger helping protect the handful of rhinos that still live in the game reserve. Litha (Liyabona Mroqoza) is a young girl taking her father’s (Makhaola Ndebele) whittled creations to market. As fellow ranger Robert (David S. Lee) works to repair a fence at the outskirts of the reserve, Khuselwa takes young Litha into the preserve to let her see the rhinos. When they discover a group of poachers targeting the rhino they are specifically watching, a high stakes game of chess begins between the hunters and Khuselwa while Litha captures it all on her camera.
The overarching theme of the film is about the poaching or rhino horns to fund illicit cartels that sell the powdered horns on the black market to superstitious Asian buyers who believe it has healing properties, which it doesn’t. It funds a great many drug wars and keeps these war lords in power. Few rangers are left to help track and protect these gorgeous creatures and we get a glimpse into the life-and-death struggle of both the rhinos and their protectors. There is a great deal of emotional heft to this narrative and while many of its twists are telegraphed early, they still resolve in a potent finale that should make anyone with a heart into a conservationist. That is all a film like this can ask.
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Short Film)
Rating
Director
Nebojsa Slijepcevic
Screenplay
Nebojsa Slijepcevic
Length
13m
Starring
Dragan Micanovic, Goran Bogdan, Alexis Manenti, Lara Nekic, Robert Ugrina
MPAA Rating
Not Rated
Review
The last of this year’s live-action shorts is not the weakest but it doesn’t quite carry the emotional weight or dramatic tension of the other films. It takes place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993 during which paramilitary operatives carried out an ethnic cleansing pogrom against Muslim residents
The scene is the interior of a train where passengers are shocked to have been stopped and asked questions pertaining to their religious beliefs. Dragan (Goran Bogdan) initially stands up for Milan (Silvio Mumelaš) an undocumented student scared he will be dragged forcibly from the train. Ultimately, he backs down fearing for his own safety perhaps at the expense of another man’s life.
Based on the Štrpci massacre of 1993, the short film explores the nature of protest and protection when faced with the very real threat of retaliation. Although the audience is certain that the militant’s assurance that the man will be returned unharmed is bunkum, we sit and watch in horror as events play out. In tribute to one man who did stand up for the Muslims on the train, the short film is certainly an important subject but the tension isn’t palpable enough and the conclusion is left ambiguous in spite of its own acknowledgement of the events. Schindler’s List succeeded by going into horrifying depth of the disgusting acts perpetrated on the Jews in Nazi Germany but this film doesn’t give itself enough time to tell this story and leaves the viewer underwhelmed. It’s tense and it has an emotional message, one that seems especially relevant in America’s impending fascistic future but it stops short of making itself feel relevant rather than important.
Review Written
February 25, 2025
Leave a Reply