Everyday Activist - Celebration of Short Film - Part 1 Oscars

Posted on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 05:00 PM

Celebration of Short Film - Part 1 Oscars

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

This week everything will be about short films, unless Revenant makes the Oscar list this Thursday. Then I’ll feel obligated to talk about that. Speaking of Oscars, while I went through the feature length documentary list I didn’t talk about the shorts, even though they all seem to be about social justice. While I don’t typically like award shows, I hope their presence on this list will help create awareness and change for a better world.

I could only find the full version of the Canadian film “My Enemy, My Brother”. Watch it. If Meru didn’t make you believe in a higher power this one will. Truth is stranger than fiction. Below is the alphabetical list with trailers. For Shameen Obaid’s film A Girl in the River, I also posted the full version of her 2012 Oscar winning “Saving Face” just in case you missed the screening at the University of Calgary in November.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

“Body Team 12,” RYOT Films and Vulcan Productions

“Chau, beyond the Lines,” Cynasty Films

Chau, Beyond the Lines is an important documentary for people to understand what chemicals in the environment do to generations of people and that these same companies want control of our food. He’s such a charismatic young man that I sincerely hope with the raised awareness from being on the Oscar list he realizes his dreams.

“Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah,” Jet Black Iris America

“50 Feet from Syria,” Spin Film

“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” SOC Films 

“Saving Face,” 2012 Oscar Winner

 “Last Day of Freedom,” Living Condition

“Minerita,” Kanaki Films

“My Enemy, My Brother,” Fathom Film Group 

“Starting Point,” Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association 

“The

“Testimony,” Atria Film in association with Escape Artists

If you took my advice and watched Virunga on Netflix “The Testimony” is about the same war and time period in the Congo, except this one is about women seeking justice for rapes endured. Unfortunately, it’s the same story all around the world. If you want to control a community, terrorize it by sexually assaulting the women. I can give too many examples where this happens, especially in South America and it all centers around resource extraction. 

Minerita is about women working in mines in South America and the trials those women face. One featured in the documentary can’t even trust her own family to keep her safe. What kind of life is that? Those ladies are significantly tougher than me.

If I had to pick a winner I think Sharmeen Obiad will take home another Oscar with A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness. Women who have been murdered by their families deserve a voice. Her last film documented changes to acid attack laws in Pakistan and I hope this one does the same. There were honor killings in Canada not too long ago. Blows my mind that these things happen. 

50 Feet from Syria broke my heart from watching the trailer. I’m not sure I could watch the entire film. One day kids are playing and the next are fighting for their lives, because someone thought it was ok to drop a bomb. Much like Saving Face, this one follows a doctor who comes back to his roots wanting to make a difference to his people. This would be my second choice to win.

Last Day of Freedom has already won many awards. Body Team 12 was about the Ebola outbreak and the people who risked their lives to control the damage. Starting Point has some ideas about how to rehabilitate juvenile offenders through community service. “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” might win given that the original film didn’t win anything despite the great sacrifices the filmmaker made to tell his story. I wouldn’t put them in the top five, because of my personal bias towards current global issues.

All the films deserve to be on the list and it will be exciting to see which ones make it to the final five and of course see who the winner is.

Everyday Activist: Oscar Documentary Picks Top 15 >