TEN LIVE ACTION SHORTS ADVANCE IN TWENTY-FOURTEEN OSCAR® RACE

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® has announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 87th Academy Awards®.  One hundred forty-one pictures originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies (in parentheses) and writers or directors where applicable:

“Aya,” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, directors (Chasis Films)

“Baghdad Messi,” Sahim Omar Kalifa, director, and Kobe Van Steenberghe, producer (a team productions)

“Boogaloo and Graham,” Michael Lennox, director, and Ronan Blaney, writer (Out of Orbit)

“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak),” Hu Wei, director, and Julien Féret, producer

(AMA Productions)

"Carry On,” Yatao Li, director (Rochester Institute of Technology)

“My Father’s Truck,” Maurício Osaki, director (Lupi Filmes)

“Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi, director, and Stefan Eichenberger, producer (Zurich University of Arts)

“The Phone Call,” Mat Kirkby, director, and James Lucas, writer (RSA Films)

“SLR,” Stephen Fingleton, director, and Matthew James Wilkinson, producer (Stigma Films)

“Summer Vacation [Chofesh Gadol],” Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon, directors (GREENproductions)  

The Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist.  Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

The nominations for the 87th Academy Awards® will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills.

The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

ABOUT THE ACADEMY

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards—in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners — the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

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OSCAR RACE SHORT LISTS

CONTENDERS IN VISUAL EFFECTS (VFX)
     The top 10 films in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 85th Academy Awards®. Films are listed below in alphabetical order:

     “The Amazing Spider-Man”
     “Cloud Atlas”
     “The Dark Knight Rises”
     “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
     “John Carter”
     “Life of Pi”
     “Marvel’s The Avengers”
     “Prometheus”
     “Skyfall”
     “Snow White and the Huntsman”

All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 3.  Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar® consideration.

LIVE ACTION SHORTS

Here is the list of 11 live action short films advancing in the voting process for the 85th Academy Awards®.  A tie in the nominations balloting resulted in 11 films being shortlisted.  One hundred twenty-five pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 11 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

 “A Fábrica (The Factory)” - (Grafo Audiovisual)
 “Asad” - (Hungry Man)
 “Buzkashi Boys” -  (Afghan Film Project)
 “Curfew” - (Fuzzy Logic Pictures)
 “Death of a Shadow (Dood van eenSchaduw)”        - (Serendipity Films)
 “Henry” - (Yan England)
 “Kiruna-Kigali” - (Hepp Film AB)
 “The Night Shift Belongs to the Stars” 
     - (Oh! pen LLC)
“9meter” - (M and M Productions A/S)
“Salar” - (Nicholas Greene)
“when you find me"
     - (Freestyle Picture Company)

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in Los Angeles. 

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 11 titles on the shortlist.  Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in December.

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented  Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood and Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

New Rules for Docs and Short Films Approved by Academy Board

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved documentary and short film rules for the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 at its most recent meeting on December 6, 2011.
 
The purpose of the new rules is to offer members more opportunities to view the films vying for an Oscar nomination, and/or win. Thus, more members will be able to vote in the categories of Documentary Feature, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film.
 
However, now that all motion pictures from now on will be made using digital photography, the designation of a Documentary Feature, and an animated or live-action short, really should not be "film." Film is the out-dated process. Now, digital photography is the process, but a motion picture is still the product, as well as the medium of motion picture communication.

In the Documentary Feature category, the entire Documentary Branch will now receive all eligible titles beginning in the first round of voting. To facilitate this change, producers must submit 200 DVDs, an increase from the 30 that had been required in previous years. In the final round of voting in this category, members must still see all the nominated films, but the viewing of films on a digital screener will now be an option for satisfying this requirement.
 
A documentary feature's eligibility will continue to depend on completing seven-day qualifying runs in both New York and Los Angeles that are advertised in at least one major newspaper, as specified by Academy rules, in each city.
For the 85th Academy Awards in 2013, however, a review by a movie critic in The New York Times and/or the Los Angeles Times will also be required. The Academy specifically specified implementation of this rule for the 85th Academy Awards in 2013. Does this leave open a door to review this controversial rule for a published review before 2014?

As with the final voting for the best documentary feature, members will still be required to see all the motion pictures in the Animated Short and Live Action Short categories before voting for a winner, but viewing them on a digital screener will now be an option for satisfying this requirement as well.

When it comes to non-standard format, such as IMAX, the producers must submit the motion picture to the Academy in a standard theatrical aspect ratio and in a format currently accepted for Academy exhibition to remain eligible. They may provide additional screenings in non-standard formats, but members’ attendance at such screenings will not be required for voting purposes. The Academy only mentioned IMAX, so does this rule apply to RealD 3D, and Dolby 3D as well? Confused?See Article.
 
Other rule changes for the documentary and short motion picture categories include normal date changes and minor "housekeeping" changes. Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Board of Governors for approval.