The China Mail - Periods, old age and communal conflict: Oscar shorts showcase variety

"The live action short category, it's particularly diverse in its genres," Julia Aks, nominated alongside Steve Pinder for their satire "Jane Austen's Period Drama," told AFP.

"That makes me very hopeful that the Academy, the pinnacle and the barometer of the industry, is broadening."

Aks and Pinder's 13-minute comedy sees Georgian era heroine Estrogenia Talbot get her period in the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal.

When her suitor mistakes the blood for an injury, it soon becomes clear that his expensive education was somewhat incomplete.

Aks said she never imagined her work would land at Hollywood's biggest gala.

"It's just been really encouraging that the kind of things that we want to make are also being rewarded," she said.

The short film category is seen as a gateway for new talent seeking to stand out in a competitive industry.

Previous winners include writer-director Martin McDonagh, who went on to helm Oscar-winning feature "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and nine-time nominee "The Banshees of Inisherin."

- Connection -

For Sam Davis, who worked with Jack Piatt to create "The Singers," getting an Oscar nomination has been surreal, but has also validated his ambition to use film to explore issues that matter to him.

"The Singers" focuses on a group of lonely men who spontaneously begin a musical competition one night in a bar.

"I wanted to tell a story about connection and the power of vulnerability, especially today," Davis told AFP.

"Everybody's on their phones, and I think we're less and less connected."

The young filmmaker, who counts "One Battle After Another" director Paul Thomas Anderson among his idols, said the isolation and missed opportunities that technology imposes on men in particular was something he wanted to examine.

"You never know who you're standing next to at the grocery store or sitting next to at the bar," he said.

"Maybe you'd be friends if you just talked."

The same theme of isolation guided the work of debut director Lee Knight, whose "A Friend of Dorothy" stars veteran British actress Miriam Margolyes.

The 20-minute film follows a duo who form an unlikely friendship and is a delightful meditation on the importance of connecting with another human being.

"They come to each other in a time where they need each other, and they're lonely in their own way," Knight told AFP.

"He's lonely; he hasn't found his people, and she's lonely too. It's a simple story, but we need these stories now more than ever."

- Stars -

For up-and-coming filmmakers, an Oscar nomination -- and the attendant glitz and glamour of luncheons rubbing shoulders with megastars like Timothee Chalamet and Steven Spielberg -- is confirmation that persistence pays off.

"For me, it's about sending a message to other people, to other filmmakers, to other actors, other storytellers, to say: 'You really cannot give up,'" said Knight, who worked as an actor for years before heading behind the camera.

Meyer Levinson-Blount, nominated alongside Oron Caspi for "Butcher's Stain," agrees.

"You just never know where it's going to happen or when it's going to happen," he said.

"Butcher's Stain" tells the story of an Arab-Israeli working in a Tel Aviv supermarket who is accused of tearing down hostage posters after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.

Caspi said the current moment in filmmaking felt like one of enormous optimism.

"Storytelling is one of the most ancient arts, and I think a lot of the changes about technology and a lot of changes about the situation we're in -- that's how we get our stories," he said.

"I feel like we're getting into a very interesting era of storytelling."

The 98th Academy Awards will be held on March 15 in Hollywood.

S.Davis--ThChM