This weekend, we're thrilled to be hosting an exclusive UK screening of this year’s Oscar® Nominated Short Films in partnership with Brain Wash.
This is the only chance for Londoners to catch this year’s short film nominees on the big screen prior the Academy Awards® with two special screenings taking place at Curzon Soho on the 26th (Best Animated Short Films) and 27th (Best Live Action Short Films) of February at Midday (12pm).
To book tickets for the Animation programme, click here. To book tickets for the Live Action programme, click here.
Don't fret if you're unable to make it down, most of the nominated shorts (minus the documentaries and The Gruffalo) are now available todownload from iTunes.
In the lead up to the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th, we are taking a closer look at this year's short film nominees. Today, one of this year's Best Live Action Short Film contenders, The Crush.
Best Live Action Short Film nominee, The Crush
THE CRUSH Ireland/15 MIN
Director/Writer: Michael Creagh
Producer: Damon Quinn
Cast: Charlie Bonner, Neilí Conroy, Oran Creagh, Rory Keenan, Olga Wehrly
Ardal Travis is in love. There's just one problem. He's an 8 year old schoolboy and the object of his affection is his Second Class teacher, Miss Purdy. But when her boyfriend arrives on the scene Ardal is heartbroken. His reaction, though, is a little unexpected. He challenges Miss Purdy's boyfriend to a duel. To the death.
Michael Creagh was born in Belfast. He received a degree in design at Belfast College before moving to Dublin to follow a career in advertising. After 12 years as an art director he has been trying to break into both films and commercials. The Crush is his debut short film.
In the lead up to the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th, we are taking a closer look at this year's nominees. Today, one of this year's Best Live Action Short Film contenders, God of Love.
Best Live Action Short Film nominee, God of Love
GOD OF LOVE USA/18 MIN
Director/Writer: Luke Matheny
Producers: Gigi Demant, Ryan Silbert, Stefanie Walmsley
Cast: Luke Matheny, Marian Brock, Christopher Hirsh, Emily Young, Miguel Rosales
Lounge-singing darts champion Raymond Goodfellow finds his prayers are answered -- literally -- when he receives a mysterious package of passion-inducing darts. The catch is that the one woman he loves -- Kelly, a drummer in his band -- is already in love with Ray's best friend Fozzie, the guitarist in the band. But when Ray uses the darts in a loony scheme to resolve this strange romantic triangle, he learns a surprising lesson about unrequited love and discovers his own place in the universe. Romance is in the air in this bohemian charmer.
Luke Matheny is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based director, writer, actor and professor.
His short film God of Love – a comedy about a lounge-singing darts champion who receives a package of love-inducing darts – was winner of the Student Academy Award; special jury recognition at Aspen ShortsFest; as well as first prize and the King Award for Screenwriting at the NYU First Run Film Festival. The film has screened and won awards at dozens of festivals around the world. God of Love was Matheny’s thesis at NYU’s graduate film program.
Matheny has also co-written a feature-length coming-of-age comedy, A Birder’s Guide to Everything, with Sundance-award-winning director Rob Meyer. The project is currently in pre-production at Crossroads Films in New York.
His previous short film Earano -- a loose, comic retelling of the Cyrano de Bergerac tale – won the King Award for Screenwriting at the NYU First Run Festival, an honorable mention for the Fujifilm Audience Impact Award at the Angelus Student Film Festival, and Best Student Short at the Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nevada.
Earano was also called "charming and hilarious [and] quite romantic" by New York Magazine's website.
Matheny grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. He has a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University's prestigious Medill School of Journalism and has worked as a reporter and copy editor in a variety of newspapers, magazines and web sites. He has also worked as a synopsis writer for Netflix, a story editor for the MTV series MADE, and as a filmmaking teacher at the School of Cinema and Performing Arts (SOCAPA) in Brooklyn.
He is currently writing a feature comedy script called Ron Quixote. He enjoys jazz, Scrabble and cleaning his desk.
In the lead up to the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th, we are taking a closer look at this year's nominees, all of which will be available to download from iTunes on February 22nd. Today, one of this year's Best Live Action Short Film nominees, Wish 143.
Best Live Action Short Film nominee, Wish 143
WISH 143 UK/24 MIN
Director: Ian Barnes
Writer: Tom Bidwell
Producer: Samantha Waite
Cast: Jim Carter, Jodie Whittaker, Dean Andrews
A fifteen-year-old boy with only months to live is granted one wish from the Dreamscape Charity. But David doesn't want to go to Disneyland or meet Gary Neville; what he really wants is an hour alone with a naked woman.
Wish 143 is the second short film from Ian Barnes following on from Swing, which graphically showed how adultery can seriously damage your health. In between making shorts Ian directs comedy and drama for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Projects include Hope Springs starring Alex Kingston, Wild At Heart starring Stephen Tompkinson and The Afternoon Plays.
In 2009 and 2010 Ian was part of the team nominated for a BAFTA for episodes of the medical drama Casualty. One of the episodes revolved around the attempted suicide of a junior doctor. Ian started life as a journalist and gradually moved into directing drama via radio and television.
He is currently working on a feature script Plain Jane which he will be taking to the Sundance Lab in 2010.
In the lead up to the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th, we are taking a closer look at this year's nominees, all of which will be available to download from iTunes on February 22nd. Today, one of this year's Best Live Action Short Film nominees, The Confession.
Best Live Action Short Film nominee, The Confession
THE CONFESSIONUK/26 MIN
Director: Tanel Toom
Writer: Caroline Bruckner
Producer: Emily Williams
Cast: Aran Bell, Joe Eales, Lewis Howlett, James Simmons
Quiet and sincere 9-year-old Sam is worried about making his first confession. His conscience is clear, therefore he cannot hope for any relief from the experience. He and his friend Jacob decide to remedy that situation, but their initially innocent prank turns unexpectedly tragic.
Director’s Biography:
Originally from Estonia, Tanel was born in Tallinn 1982. He studied filmmaking at the Tallinn University, which he graduated, with a BA in 2005. After that, he was working as a commercials director and in 2008 he completed his fourth short film The Second Coming which was premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The apocalyptical war drama has since been screened at numerous film festivals and won several awards, including the Best European Short at the Archipelago International Film Festival. The same year, he decided to continue his studies at the National Film and TV School in England. He graduated from the NFTS with an MA in 2010 and shortly after that his diploma film The Confession won the Student Academy Award® in foreign film
category.
At the moment, Tanel is working in UK and Estonia and developing his first feature projects. He has a passion for darker stories that speak to the hearts as well as the mind. He loves to impact the audience - whether with fear, laughter or bittersweet pain.
In the lead up to the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th, we are revisiting past nominees and winners in the short film categories, all of which you can download from iTunes. Today, 2006 Best Live Action Short Film winner, West Bank Story.
USA | 21 mins
Director: Ari Sandel
Writers: Kim Ray, Ari Sandel
Producers: Bill Boland, Ashley Jordan, Amy S. Kim, Ravi Malhotra, Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy
Cast: Ben Newmark, Noureen DeWulf, Joey Naber, A.J. Tannen
A musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands on the West Bank. David, an Israeli soldier, falls in love with Fatima, a beautiful Palestinian cashier, despite the animosity between their families' dueling restaurants. Can the couple's love withstand a 58-year-old conflict and their families' desire to control the future of the chick pea in the Middle East?
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