Tuesday is a big day for small films, with the Academy following its release of the Best Animated Short shortlist with the lineup of shortlisted films in the Best Live-Action Short category.
The list includes two student Oscar winners, as well as a typically international slate of films, which this year includes entries from Great Britain, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden and New Zealand.
The shortlisted films include Luke Matheny's lighthearted "God of Love" (left), which qualified by winning a Student Academy Award earlier this year.
Another 2010 student winner, Tanel Toom's gripping "The Confession," also made the shortlist.
Other entries include "Ana's Playground," about a child in an unexpected war environment; "Seeds of the Fall," about a middle-aged Swedish couple in a stale relationship; and "Shoe," about a man whose efforts to kill himself are frustrated by a homeless man.
Shorts qualify by either winning prizes at one of an AMPAS-approved group of film festivals, or by running theatrically for at least three days.
Normally, the Academy waits a couple of weeks after the release of the animated shortlist before it issues the live-action list. More than twice as many films qualified in the live-action category this year, with 76 eligible shorts as opposed to just 33 eligible animated films.
The shortlist is chosen by committees from the Short Films and Feature Animation branch, which view and score each of the eligible films. Branch members will now narrow the shortlisted films to a list of between three and five nominees.
Recent winners in this category include directors Andrea Arnold and Martin McDonagh, who went on to make "Fish Tank" and "In Bruges," respectively.
The shortlist:
“Ana’s Playground,” Eric D. Howell, director (StoryForge, LLC)
“The Confession,” Tanel Toom, director (National Film and Television School)
“The Crush,” Michael Creagh, director (Purdy Pictures)
“God of Love,” Luke Matheny, director (Luke Matheny)
“Na Wewe,” Ivan Goldschmidt, director-producer (CUT!)
“Seeds of the Fall,” Patrik Eklund, director, and Mathias Fjellstrom, producer (Direktorn & Fabrikorn)
“Shoe,” Nick Kelly, director, and Seamus Byrne, producer (Zanita Films)
“The Six Dollar Fifty Man,” Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, directors (Sticky Pictures Ltd.)
“Sma Barn, Stora Ord" ("Little Children, Big Words"), Lisa James Larsson, director and Andreas Emanuelsson, producer (Bob Film Sweden AB)
“Wish 143,” Ian Barnes, director, and Samantha Waite, producer (Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures)
