Letter to a Pig
France/Israel
17 minutes

By far and away the most “arty” of the animated short films nominated for an Oscar ® this year, which can work for or against it. In my case, the latter presides. Letter to a Pig arouses initial curiosity as to why a Holocaust survivor feels he owes his life to a pig and how this is connected with a young girl in school. Unfortunately, this short film’s efforts to bring any substance to the latter part aren’t near enough. 

Ninety-Five Senses
USA
13 minutes

My personal favourite of the lot, slightly nudging Our Uniform. As the title kind of alludes to, this short film details one older man’s (brilliantly voiced by Tim Blake Nelson) sentiments towards our five senses. What makes this unique and excellent is the creative variation in animation styles, how eloquently written it is, and the revelation of the perspective our protagonist is citing these senses from. Who says 13 (minutes) is an unlucky number? It is just the right length for this short feature I could easily see becoming a full-length one someday.

★★★★

Our Uniform
Iran
7 minutes

Something wondrous and original immediately greets us in Iranian short film Our Uniform with its visual storytelling playing out on clothing. Clothing that is her old school uniform. The insight given via her perspective as a young girl attending school in Tehran is eye-opening and somewhat surprisingly amusing when intended to be. A short and sweet little gem that also deserves some form of feature-length adaptation one day.

Pachyderme
France
11 minutes

The seemingly mundane existence of picturesque animation Pachyderme’s lead character, a ten-year-old girl who is temporarily staying at her grandparent’s idyllic home, is harbouring a disturbing and shocking development that left me sitting stunned for several minutes after the credits had rolled.

★★★1/2

War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko
USA
11 minutes

I have to say, the quality of short films nominated for an Academy Award ® this year is really strong. War is Over is no exception to that. Here is another interesting idea featuring a pigeon playing messenger between two soldiers partaking in a game of chess who are unaware they are on opposing sides during WWI. The tone and music score of this production brings a calm to the storm that is war and just like four of the five animated short films reviewed above, the ending is a powerful and memorable one. 

★★★1/2

 

The 2024 Oscar ® Nominated Short Films – Animated is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from February 22nd to Early March.

Moviedoc thanks Bonsai Films and Annette Smith: Ned & Co for providing screener links to watch and review these short films.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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