Six Canadian short films, including four from Quebec, enter the home stretch of the Oscar race. They are on the Academy’s shortlist.
The news was announced Tuesday evening during the unveiling of all the shortlisted films on the Academy’s website.
Three films co-produced by the National Film Board are included in this list: Art in the blood, by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills, Weeds, by Claude Cloutier, and Like a river. All compete for nomination in the Best Animated Short category.
The affair in the blood was supported by a creative team that included Olivier Calvert, the sound designer of Sylvain Bellemare’s team, which won the Oscar for best sound editing in 2017 for the film by Denis Villeneuve Arrival, and the noise maker Nicolas Gagnon.
In official selection in 27 festivals, Weeds has already won six awards, including Best Animated Short at the 2021 New York City Short Film Festival.
Among the animated films on this short list is also the film Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice. This story written and produced by Inuk Zacharias Kunuk was entirely shot in Inuktitut. It is an adaptation of a traditional Inuit story around which the importance of shamanism for this Nordic culture evolves. The film won the award for best Canadian short film this year at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Fictional short film
The short movie The big slaps, directed by Annie St-Pierre, sneaks up among the semi-finalists in the Best Fictional Short Film category, alongside Frost, by Marianne Farley.
The big slaps plunges spectators into the Quebec of 1983, on Christmas Eve. This creaky father-daughter story was presented at the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), where it received two awards, including the Jury Special Mention for Best Directing Short Film. Since then, the film has been selected at more than 70 festivals internationally.
The scenario of Frost, a 20-minute film, focuses attention on a hypothetical and brutal future where abortion would be recriminalised.
Moreover, the film Dune, by Quebec director Denis Villeneuve, officially enters the Oscar race. This feature made it into several categories on this short list, including Best Makeup and Hairstyle, Best Music, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects.
On the other hand, Canada’s selection in the Best Foreign Film category, The drunken birds, was not selected by the judges of the Academy.
The official list of nominations will be known on February 8. The 94e Oscar gala will take place on Sunday March 27.