A short film is typically considered to be a movie that is less than 30 minutes in length. Although many of them don’t acknowledge it in their biographies, several top filmmakers – like Christopher Nolan, Richard Linklater, Denis Villeneuve, Martin McDonagh, Riz Ahmed, Martin Scorsese, and David Lynch – began their careers making short films.

If you can make a successful short film, it proves that you’re a good storyteller who can work within a budget and create your own cinematic identity. Short films are less expensive than feature-length films, and their purpose is often to showcase new talent and experimental techniques. Which is why they’re important. 

Each of  the categories (live-action, animated, documentary) will be part of ABC’s Oscar broadcast on Sunday, March 12. As noted below, many are available on streaming services. 

The Fairfield Theater Company will screen all of the nominees once over the next week: Live-action tonight (March 2), Animated on March 7 and Documentary on March 9. Details below.

Live-Action Short Films wIll be screened at The Fairfield Theatre Company on Thursday March 2 at 7:00 p.m.

“An Irish Goodbye” by Tom Berkeley & Ross White is set in rural Northern Ireland, where a young man with Down syndrome and his estranged brother reunite following the death of their mother to fulfill her ‘bucket list.’ In theaters only. 

“Ivalu” by Anders Walter & Rebecca Pruzan, based on the Danish graphic novel, profiles a young girl in Greenland who is traumatized by the disappearance of her older sister; it’s a bleak, difficult story that deals with incest and rape. Available on Amazon Prime.

“La Pupille” by Alice Rohrwacher & Alfonso Cuaron, starring Rohrwacher’s sister Alba, impishly focuses on Christmas at a Catholic orphanage during World War II. Available on Disney+.

“Night Ride” by Eirik Tveiten & Gaute Lid Larssen takes place one cold December night in Norway as a little person waits for the tram to go home after a party and sees passengers bullying a trans. Available on YouTube.

“The Red Suitcase” by Cyrus Neshvad is a suspenseful thriller that revolves around Ariane, a 16-year-old Iranian girl who evades an arranged marriage by removing her hijab at Luxembourg Airport. In theaters only. 

Animated Short Films wIll be screened at The Fairfield Theatre Company on Tuesday March 7 at 7:00 p.m.

“The Boy, the Mole and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy & Matthew Freud focuses on the unlikely  bond between a young boy and his animal friends with the message, “Life is difficult but you are loved.” Available on Apple TV+

“The Flying Sailor” by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby is about the collision of two ships in Halifax harbor in 1917 during W.W. I – an accident that tossed a sailor into the air. Available on YouTube.

“Ice Merchants” by Joao Gonzales & Bruno Caetano revolves around a father-and-son who parachute each day from their house on a cliff into a valley to sell ice. Available streaming on YouTube.

“My Year of Dicks” by Sara Gunnarsdottir & Pamela Ribon is a “mortifying memoir,” following a 15-year-old woman determined to lose her virginity in suburban Houston during the early ‘90s. This heartfelt portrait of adolescence is available on Vimeo.

“An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It” in stop-motion by Lachlan Pendragon reveals an inept toaster telemarketer who meets a talking ostrich.  In theaters only. 

Documentary Short Films (in alphabetical order) wIll be screened at The Fairfield Theatre Company on Thursday March 9 at 7:00 p.m.

“The Elephant Whisperers” by Kartiki Gonsalves & Guneet Monga introduces an indigenous South Indian Kattunayakan couple in Mudumalai National Park who fall in love with and raise Raghu, an orphaned baby elephant. Available on Netflix.

“Haulout” by brother-and-sister duo Evgenia & Maxim  Arbugaeva follows marine biologist Maxim Chakilev in the remote Siberian Arctic who discovers how the warming seas have impacted walrus migration; the cinematography is amazing. Available on YouTube.

“How Do You Measure a Year?” by Jay Rosenbatt chronicles how a father films his daughter Ella on her birthday every year, asking her the same questions, effectively creating a portrait of her life from early childhood to adulthood. In theaters only. 

“The Martha Mitchell Effect” by Anne Alvergue & Beth Levison profiles outspoken, press-savvy  Watergate whistleblower Martha Mitchell, wife of Richard Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell, exploring her life and legacy via archival footage. Available on  Netflix.

“Stranger at the Gate” by Joshua Seftel & Conall Jones zeroes in on radicalized ex-U.S. Marine Mac McKinney, who plots a terrorist attack on an American mosque, only to discover that the Muslim community he imagined murdering welcomed him so warmly that his life took a different path. Available on YouTube.