85th Academy Awards Live Action Shorts Shortlist

From a total of one hundred twenty-five films that qualified in the category, eleven (11) will advance in the voting process to select three to five nominees.

The following are the short films announced today by the Academy.

9 meter, Anders Walter, Denmark,
Daniel is 16-years-old and a long jump athlete that constantly sets new records. Her mother is dying and he believes that setting new records keeps her alive. In a desperate attempt to set new records, he starts to jump between rooftops of the concrete ghetto he lives in.

A Fábrica (The Factory), Aly Muritiba, Brazil, 15'
Visiting day. Lindalva prepares food to take it to her son who is in jail. Metruti, Lindalva's son, shaves and wears the best clothes to welcome his mother. Today is a very special day and he really needs to make a phone call. His mother is taking a risk, she's willing to smuggle a cell phone for him into the penitentiary.

Asad, Bryan Buckley, South Africa and USA, 18'
A coming of age fable of a Somali boy as he struggles to survive in his war-torn land.

Buzkashi Boys, Sam French, Afghanistan and USA, 28'
Set against the dramatic landscape of contemporary Afghanistan and the National sport of Buzkashi - a brutal game of horse polo played with a dead goat - Buzkashi Boys tells the coming of age story of two best friends, a charismatic street urchin and a defiant blacksmith's son, who struggle to realize their dreams as they make their way to manhood in one of the most war-torn countries on Earth. Shot on location in Kabul city by an alliance of Afghan and international film makers, Buzkashi Boys is a look at the life that continues beyond the headlines of war in Afghanistan.

Curfew, Shawn Christensen, USA,19'
At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his nine-year old niece, Sophia, for a few hours.

Dood van een Schaduw (Death of a Shadow), Tom Van Avermaet, France and Belgium, 20'
Soldier Nathan died during World War I. A strange collector imprisoned his shadow and gave him a new chance: a second life against 10000 captured shadows. It is love that guides him, as his purpose is to meet Sarah again, the woman he fell in love with before he died. But then he discovers that she's already in love with someone else, jealousy clouds his mind and pushes him towards a bitter decision, not without consequences.

Henry, Yan England, Canada, 21'
Henry, a great concert pianist, has his life thrown in turmoil the day the love of this life, Maria, disappears mysteriously. He'll then discover the inevitable verdict of life.

Il turno di notte lo fanno le stelle (The Night Shift Belongs to the Stars), Edoardo Ponti, Italy and USA, 23'
It's a story about a man and a woman. He is alone. She is married. Both mountaineers, both survivors of cardiac operation. He has in his chest the heart of a young woman, she has a mitral valve. A fate and a promise unites them . A short story where the rhythm of the heartbeat accelerates, to find at the end, a steady pace.

Kiruna-Kigali, Goran Kapetanovic, Sweden and Rwanda, 15'
In the midst of frost and snow, a woman is driving her way to the hospital in Kiruna, the northernmost city of Sweden. Under the scorching sunlight of Kigali, Rwanda, another woman is being carried to the hospital on a stretcher. The two single mothers-to-be on the verge of giving birth to a baby are departed thousands of miles apart, but share the same fear of entering the unknown world of motherhood.

Salar, Nicholas Greene, USA, UK and Bolivia, 19'
Two lives cross in an isolated Bolivian village: a disgruntled American doctor looking to leave, and a Bolivian salt miner who's just been stabbed in the hand.

When You Find Me, Bryce Dallas Howard, USA,
A young boy asks his pregnant mother if he will like his baby brother, and he asks her if she has a brother. This sends the mother, Lisie, on a reverie of her relationship with her older sister, Aurora, when they were kids and their mother was dying. Flashbacks show the contrasting reactions of the two girls, Aurora's anger and Lisie's innocent determination to find her mother. The boy's questions also prompt Lisie to visit Aurora and to tell her a story.

Perhaps the most attention grabber short from list is the one directed by none other than Sofia Loren's son, Carlo Ponti, and starring Nastassja Kinski, Julian Sands and Enrico Lo Verso. The cast is fantastic!  But from watching videos the French/Belgian production looks/feels great and the star is none other than Matthias Schoenaerts.

Watch trailers @MOC (only 2 don't have videos, but have images)