Short films have been misunderstood as the 'business card' for director's and actors, but the world of shorts is opening up to be an artform in itself. Here's a look at ten great international shorts in Live Action and Animation that where Oscar Nominees and will now be in DVD format released on May 6th...

By: Deborah Ground Buckner

Since its fifth presentation of awards in 1932, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recognized achievements in short films. For the 2008 Academy Awards, there were five nominees in each of the two categories (Live Action and Animation).  Here is a look at some of the great shorts the world has to offer...

            Short Subject (Animated)

Meme les pigeons vont au paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)
Country: France
Director: Samuel Tourneux
Running time: 8 minutes 

An old man is seen standing on a precarious stack of chairs and books reaching for something on a high shelf.  He falls and is caught just in time by a priest who rushes into his house.  The priest is there to sell the man a wondrous machine that will transport him to heaven.  Urging him to hurry to sign on the dotted line and complete the purchase, the priest must deal with a barrage of questions from the old man.  Finally, the priest allows a "test drive" of the machine, giving the man a glimpse of the gates of heaven.  Their dialogue and the surprise twist at the end provoke some interesting thoughts on religion and con artistry, a combination many will find is not contradictory.  The animation appears to be a combination of stop-motion and computer-generation.  The characters are very unattractive but move quite realistically.

Moya lyubov (My love)
Country: Russia
Director: Alexandr Petrov
Running time: 26 minutes

The art in this film suggests a beautiful impressionist painting.  Its colors and drawings make this a true treat for the eyes, though the animation itself is a bit choppy.  This is a story of a boy's introduction to love and romance.  Anton, a young lord fond of romantic novels, is torn between his feelings for a servant girl and an exotic, older woman living next door.  The story is less than fulfilling, but the art is lovely.

Madame Tutli Putli
Country: Canada
Directors: Chris Lavis; Maciek Szczerbowski
Running time: 17 minutes

Madame Tutli Putli stands beside a mountain of luggage waiting for a train.  Once on board, she is surrounded by interesting strangers.  Two men perched atop her luggage engage in a game of chess.  When a lurch of the train upsets their board and re-arranges the pieces, they pick up the game from that point.  Across from her is a sleeping old man beside a young boy.  The boy is reading a book entitled How to Handle Your Enemies.  Beside them is a harsh-looking athlete who makes suggestive gestures to Madame Tutli Putli.  Through it all, her expressive eyes take in all she sees and reveal to us all she feels.  At night, the train suddenly stops, and she finds herself alone on board.  The dramatic score tells us something menacing is happening, and flashes of lights suggest the same, but everyone in the theatre with me expressed wonder at what it all was supposed to mean.  Still, the stop-motion animation is thrilling.  There is no dialogue.

I Met the Walrus
Country: Canada
Director: Josh Rankin
Running time: 5 minutes

Many have already heard of the 1969 interview with Beatle John Lennon obtained by fourteen-year-old Jerry Levitan.  The kid sneaked into Lennon's hotel room  with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and persuaded Lennon to grant him five minutes.  The interview is illustrated here with black-and-white line drawings.  The result is far from profound, but Beatle enthusiasts and those who find a prevailing message in Lennon's rambling thoughts will enjoy this one.

Peter & the Wolf - This Years Oscar Winner
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Suzie Templeton
Running time: 32 minutes

Yes, it's that Peter and the Wolf, with Sergei Prokofiev's beautiful music.  But this story has a few twists.  Peter lives behind well-fortified walls with his Grandfather.  Peter's only friend seems to be a faithful duck.  Escaping while Grandfather and a fat cat are sound asleep, Peter goes into town where hunters are far from friendly and prove nasty bullies to the young boy.  Peter befriends a bird with a broken wing, using a balloon to help it "fly."  There are lovely moments of Peter and the duck and bird at play in the woods and on a frozen pond.  Then the cat arrives to menace the bird, and the wolf appears, making a tasty lunch of Peter's duck.  This time, as Peter and his grandfather make a triumphant march with the captured wolf, the hunters clearly seem the bad guys, and the wolf has a surprise ending.  The stop-action animation is delightful, and who needs dialogue with Prokofiev's lovely score?

Short Subject (Live Action)

Tanghi Argentini
Country: Belgium
Director: Guy Thys
Writer: Geert Verbanck
Principal actors: Dirk van Dijck; Koen van Impe
Running time: 13 minutes

Andre (Dirk van Dijck) stays late at his office computer on a December night.  When the cleaning lady catches him, he quickly says he is working on Christmas gifts for his co-workers.  She laughs knowingly.  We see he is actually corresponding with a woman who loves to dance.  Andre makes a date with her to dance the tango in two weeks.  But there is a problem:  Andre can't dance.  He asks his co-worker, Frans, an accomplished dancer, to teach him.  Frans is not interested; clearly, he is a no-nonsense professional who believes the office should be a place for work.  Frans sneers at the Christmas tree and the employee relationships.  But Andre is persistent, and soon, after hours, he and Frans are working diligently.   When the big date arrives, Andre goes to meet the lady with Frans keeping watch from a safe distance.  The final moments of the film present fascinating developments and demonstrate true friendship.

Om natten (At Night)
Country: Denmark
Director/writer: Christian E. Christiansen
Principal actors: Laura Christiansen; Julie Olgaard; Neel Ronholt
Running time: 40 minutes

Three young women bond together as friends in a hospital cancer ward.  Sara (Laura Christiansen) is facing a difficult and risky surgery; Mette (Neel Ronholt) has a loving, supportive family, but still finds it easier to talk with her fellow patients; Stephanie (Julie Olgaard) is facing her illness without her family; because she has not told her parents of her situation.  The hospital setting is simple, placing the camera's focus on the three friends and their emotions.  This is definitely a tearjerker.

Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Country: Italy
Director: Andrea Jublin
Principal actor: Lorenzo De Cicco
Running time: 17 minutes

A strange substitute teacher invades a high school classroom.  Mocking and jeering at the students, he urges them to make fools of themselves with various contrived animal impersonations, offering good grades to those who do.  When he tries to bribe a girl to give up a poem she is writing, she refuses.  The students offer a lesson the "teacher" takes with him beyond the classroom. 

The Tonto Woman
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Daniel Barber
Writer: Joe Shrapnel
Principal actors: Francesco Quinn; Charlotte Asprey
Running time: 33 minutes

Reuben Vega (Francesco Quinn, son of Anthony) is a drifter and cattle rustler.  He happens on a lonely house where he watches a topless woman (Charlotte Asprey) washing outside at a pump.  She goes back inside the house, and he advances and makes his presence known.  The woman, now dressed, appears and tells him to leave.  He sees her face is marked by a hideous tattoo, resembling a beard.  Inquiring of a neighbor acquaintance, Reuben learns the woman is married to a wealthy rancher (from whom Reuben intends to steal several head of cattle).  She was captured by the Apache--who made the marks on her face--and held as a sexual prisoner for eleven years.  Her husband rescued her, but after that, kept her banished in the small house.  Reuben embarks upon a courtship of the woman, demonstrating a kind and gentle side rarely seen in an admitted desperado.  The story and its setting present well the lonely life of this outcast woman and the effect a simple kindness can have.

Le Mozart des pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) - This Years Oscar Winner
Country: France
Director/writer: Philippe Pollet-Villard
Principal actors: Philippe Pollet-Villard; Richard Morgieve; Matteo Razzouki-Safardi
Running time: 31 minutes

An inept gang of pickpockets quickly goes under with three members captured by the police.  Richard and Philippe, mostly through their own bumbling, escape capture, but try to carry on the business by themselves.  They are clearly not up to the task until they take in a deaf-mute street orphan (Matteo Razzouki-Safardi) who proves to be a genius at the business.  The settings, the wide-eyes expressions of the mute boy and his "benefactors" and the unusual twist at a bowling alley make this a fun comic adventure.