2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films
Showing Now at Wallis Piccadilly, Event Cinemas Marion and Capri cinemas
The above cinemas are currently showing a number of 2023 Oscar-nominated Short Films. Included amongst these are the following:
An Irish Goodbye (Ireland)
Turlough and his estranged younger Downs Syndrome brother Lorcan are heading home across the Irish countryside after the untimely death of their mother. Turlough just wants to wind things up quickly – sell the farm, get Lorcan under the care of their aunt, and get back to his life in London. However, Lorcan has other ideas and insists that he doesn’t need help and is not leaving their home. He coerces Turlough into fulfilling their mother’s last wishes. There are some humorous moments in this delightful 23-minute film, intertwined with the brotherly conflicts and it is well worth watching.
Ivalu (Denmark – filmed in Greenland)
Pipaluk wakes one morning to find her older sister, Ivalu, is missing, but her father doesn’t seem to care. Pipaluk keeps searching for her beloved sister, going to all the places they used to go and play or seek adventure. Wearing Ivalu’s costume that she wore at her confirmation brings back more memories. There is some beautiful rugged Greenland scenery and it is while reminiscing in one of these places that Pipaluk remembers some key moments. With the realization she knows where Ivalu has gone … and why!! Another excellent short (16 minute) film.
Night Ride (Norway)
Ebba is waiting in the freezing cold for the next tram. However, when it arrives the driver locks the doors for his break. Ebba asks him to open the door so she can escape the cold. When he refuses, she manages to pry the doors open, but can’t get them closed. Tentatively approaching the driver’s section, she presses a few buttons and ends up starting the tram and heads off down the track! With a worried expression, she soon works out how to operate the tram and even picks up some passengers at the next stop. This includes some totally obnoxious men who pick on her, because of her ‘tiny size’, as well as another passenger. There are some delightful moments in this 15-minute film, which I really enjoyed.
The Red Suitcase (Luxembourg)
This one had the biggest impact on me! A 16-year old Iranian girl is standing alone at the luggage carousel, almost too scared to pick up her dilapidated red suitcase. It is soon apparent that she is delaying going past Customs. The reason is quite disturbing and she takes the drastic step of removing her Hijab to sneak past the significantly older man that she is supposed to marry that same night! Only 17 minutes, but it definitely had a much longer-lasting effect.
Le Pupille (Italy / USA)
This one left me a bit puzzled. It is set in an Italian Convent sometime in the early 1940s, where the young female orphans are forced to listen to the daily war broadcasts. Little Serafina seems to be on the outer with both the other girls and the nuns. It is Christmas, times are hard and food scarce. The school puts on a Christmas show and the visitors make some sort of donation to the Convent. I kept wondering where this one was going, and what the moral was – and it seems there wasn’t one! It provided some good light-hearted entertainment though.
Movie Reviews By John Glennie
