#Oscars2017 Animated Short Films Shortlist

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that ten (10) animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 89th Academy Awards.

Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting. Sixty-nine (69) short films had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 shorts are listed below.

Blind Vaysha, Theodore Ushev, Canada, 8'
Borrowed Time, Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, USA, 7'
Happy End, Jan Saska, Czech Republic, 6'
The Head Vanishes, Franck Dion, Canada and France, 10'
Inner Workings, Leo Matsuda, USA, 7'
Once upon a Line, Alicja Jasina, USA, 8'
Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Robert Valley, Canada and UK, 35'
Pearl, Patrick Osborne, USA, 6'
Piper, Alan Barillaro, USA, 6'
Sous Tes Doigts (Under Your Fingers), Marie-Christine Courtès, France, 13'

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist.  Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.  Nominations for the 89th Oscars® will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

Blind Vaysha by Theodore Ushev
Synopsis:  From the moment she was born, Vaysha was a very special girl. With her left eye she can only see into the past, and with her right she can only see the future. The past is familiar and safe, the future is sinister and threatening. The present is a blind spot. In captivating parabolic imagery, the award-winning animation artist Theodore Ushev illustrates the world through Vaysha’s eyes.



Borrowed Time by Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Synopsis: A weathered Sheriff returns to the remains of an accident he has spent a lifetime trying to forget. With each step forward, the memories come flooding back. Faced with his mistake once again, he must find the strength to carry on.



Happy End by Jan Saska
Synopsis: A black comedy about death with a happy ending. A splendid chain of unlikely encounters. Hunters, a tractor driver, a disco boy, and a corpse.



The Head Vanishes, Franck Dion
Synopsis: Jacqueline has lost her mind but who cares for his trip to the seaside she decided to take the train alone, as great!



Inner Workings by Leo Matsuda
Synopsis: the story of the internal struggle between a man’s pragmatic, logical side and his free-spirited, adventurous half.



Once upon a Line by Alicja Jasina
Synopsis: A man leads a boring life until he falls in love. Things get out of control, but at the end the protagonist discovers that there are other ways of living and that the world is full of color and hope.



Pear Cider and Cigarettes by Robert Valley
Synopsis: Drink and smoke...that's what Techno really like to do...and fight. He was in no condition to fight. He was sick, really sick. His disease had whittled him down to a shadow of his former self. He was crippled from a car accident when he was 17 but that’s not how he lost his big toe. He lost that in a motorbike accident, yeah he was broken alright… what the hell was he fighting for anyway and what was he still doing in China? His father had given me two clear instructions: 1. Get Techno to stop drinking long enough to receive the liver transplant and 2. Get him back home to Vancouver. This wasn't going to be easy.



Pearl by Patrick Osborne
Synopsis: Set inside their home, a beloved hatchback, Pearl follows a girl and her dad as they crisscross the country chasing their dreams. It’s a story about the gifts we hand down and their power to carry love. And finding grace in the unlikeliest of places.



Piper by Alan Barillaro
Synopsis: A hungry sandpiper hatchling discovers that finding food without mom’s help isn’t so easy.



Sous Tes Doigts (Under Your Fingers) by Marie-Christine Courtès
Synopsis: When her grand-mother dies, a young Eurasian woman performs dance and rituals to revive the peculiar story of the women in her family, from colonial Indochina to the transit camp where they were isolated. With her memories, anger and traditional rituals Emilie learns how to accept such a heritage. The scars of history felt by an eastern woman in the West.