Oscar Shorts: Documentary

Rated: NR 159 min

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Saturday, February 22
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Special Offsite Screening @ PS21

Free for Crandell Members!

Members: Please select only the number of tickets that apply to your membership level:
Individual memberships/1 ticket

All other levels of membership/2 tickets

This annual pre-Oscars feature—produced by ShortsTV for the past 20 years and the largest commercial release of short films on the planet—showcases Oscar-nominated short films in three categories on the big screen. While the Crandell is closed for construction, we are thrilled to partner with Chatham’s PS21 to screen the Documentary and Live-Action Shorts. This year’s nominated documentaries include a range of topics, from trailblazing women, a police shooting, the psychological toll of a school shooting and the sweet tale of Japanese first graders learning to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

The nominees are:

Death by Numbers – Kim A. Snyder, 33 min., USA (in English)
Four years after being shot with an AR-15 in her high school, Samantha Fuentes reckons with existential questions of hatred and justice as she prepares to confront her shooter.

I Am Ready, Warden – Smriti Mundhra, 37 min., USA (in English)
John Henry Ramirez is convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the state of Texas. During his incarceration, Ramirez tries to reach out to his victim’s son while also preparing to say goodbye to his family.

Incident – Bill Morrison, 30 min., USA (in English)
This short reconstructs a 2018 police shooting in Chicago, reassembling the event and its immediate aftermath from a variety of sources, including surveillance, CCTV, dashboard, and body-worn cameras, as a synchronized split-screen montage.

Instruments of a Beating Heart – Ema Ryan Yamazaki, 23 min., Japan (in Japanese)
First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge for the final semester: performing “Ode to Joy” at the ceremony for the new incoming first graders. Ayame, who often struggles to keep up with the group, is determined to play a major part – the big drum.

The Only Girl in the Orchestra – Molly O’Brien, 34 min., USA (in English)
Featuring double bassist Orin O’Brien, the first woman to become a full-time member of the New York Philharmonic, this short is directed  by her niece, award-winning documentary filmmaker Molly O’Brien.

“These programs treat movie-lovers to an unpredictable batch of films from all over the world, with a wide variety of themes, tones and textures.” — Collin Souter, RogerEbert.com
country
USA, Japan