2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films - Live Action

The 2017 OSCAR® nominated short films, live action: Midenki (Sing), Silent Nights, Timecode, Ennemis Interieurs (Enemies Within), La Femme et le TGV (The Woman and the TGV).

Faint Traces

In Paris, Lola, a carefree artist, and Emma, a guarded runaway share a life of art, stolen thrills, and quiet intimacy. When Emma leads Lola into what seems like just another heist, the night unravels into a confrontation with Emma's past. What was meant to be a game forces them to test the unspoken bond that holds them together.

Nobody, Not Even the Mist

A woman finds old video tapes with memories of a trip taken by her late mother, Silvia. Moved by what she sees, she embarks on the same journey to the same place, falling asleep on the way.

Rest Stop

John Dykstra – a writer who takes on the pseudonym of Rick Hardin – desperately pulls over to a seedy rest area in the middle of the desert. Little does he know... Dykstra has parked at the rest stop from hell.

The Decision

A film about the divorce decision and its impact on the children.

KAPPA

In the fake world of stardom, actor 'KAPPA' portrays a loving person and father figure when he plays the starring role in a lighthearted TV sit-com and when he presents himself in the media. His fake identity is juxtaposed with his egomaniac and perverse self which gradually unfolds until his soon to be demise.

Contradictions

A transvestite is bedridden in a colorful room. A customer arrives, then a game of hide-and-seek, of pretense and confusion of feelings begins.

Linger

After months of ignoring her father's phone calls, a stubborn young addict is finally forced to make her way home.

Oblio

The Great Metaphor

What does a bankrupt poet with no desire to live have to say about life?

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

Ralph Burton is a miner who is trapped for several days as a result of a cave-in. When he finally manages to dig himself out, he realizes that all of mankind seems to have been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. He travels to New York City only to find it deserted. Making a life for himself there, he is flabbergasted to eventually find Sarah Crandall, who also managed to survive. Together, they form a close friendship until the arrival of Benson Thacker who has managed to pilot his small boat into the city's harbor. At this point, tensions rise between the three, particularly between Thacker, who is white, and Burton, who is black.

Marbles

In a world where lives are measured by a jar of marbles and our days are literally numbered, Lisa is coming to terms with and preparing for her final days with her family. As she reminisces the time she’s had with her family, her daughter has yet to realize her mom will be gone soon until it’s almost too late.

Rest Stop

John Dykstra, a mystery novelist better known as Rick Hardin, stops at rest stop on his way home. When he hears a woman being abused in the bathroom, he's forced to decide who he really is and what he's willing to do.

Tussen Sana en Zee

Short film.

Ashes and Diamonds

A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.

Hiatus

In his classroom a philosophy teacher opens the discussion on the place of religion in society. Out of his course he faces the realities of the street.

The Graffiti of Mr. Tupaia

When a Cook Island school cleaner answers an unusual message on the wall of a girls' toilet cubicle, his life, and the life of the mysterious author, will never be the same again. Based on the Australian short story The Graffiti of Mr Kynyatta by Michael Griffith.

Two Friendly Ghosts

James Dean and Donald Turnupseed, the man whose car killed Dean, meet again for the first time... at the very same intersection where the accident occurred.

On Top of the Earth

Sophie is both attracted to boys and girls. She is torn between Nicolas and Mathilde.

The Quarantine Ballad

The story takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the socioeconomic effects on a married couple confined to their home due to quarantine.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

The screen adaptation of Azar Nafisi’s memoir tells the true story of a literature professor in revolutionary Iran who, amidst censorship and religious extremism, gathers seven of her most dedicated female students to immerse themselves in banned literary classics.

Pretty Boy

Sean is taken to a motel and is given a prostitute for his 18th birthday by his father. He must sleep with her to "fix" his questionable homosexuality. "Pretty Boy" is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and "perform" the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him.

White God

13 year old Lili fights to protect her dog Hagen, and is devastated when her father sets Hagen free on the streets. Still innocently believing love can conquer any difficulty, Lili sets out to save her dog. Failing in his desperate efforts to find his beloved owner, Hagen joins a canine revolt leading a revolution against their human abusers.

Hardball

An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.

Brotherly Love

West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.

Fire!

Firefighters ring for help, and here comes the ladder cart; they hitch a horse to it. A second horse-drawn truck joins the first, and they head down the street to a house fire. Inside a man sleeps, he awakes amidst flames and throws himself back on the bed. In comes a firefighter, hosing down the blaze. He carries out the victim, down a ladder to safety. Other firefighters enter the house to save belongings, and out comes one with a baby. The saved man rejoices, but it's not over yet.

Reservoir Dogs

Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.

Girl in the Box

The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.

Hungry Hearts

The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.

Beast

MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.

Skin

Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time

Márta, a 40-year-old neurosurgeon, falls in love. She leaves her shining American career behind and returns to Budapest to start a new life with the man she loves. But she waits for him at the Liberty Bridge in vain - he does not appear at their rendezvous. Márta starts to search for him desperately, but when she finally finds him, the love of her life claims that they have never met before.

Kisses

Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.

All Day and a Night

While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.

TalhotBlond

Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

The Young One

A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

Eleanor the Great

94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.

From Straight A's to XXX

When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.

Twilight

In the dense and murky woodlands of provincial Hungary, the search for a child murderer drags a once-respected detective into an all-consuming obsession enshrouded by irresolution and despair, even long after he has been taken off the case. What emerges is not a crime story, but a harrowing venture through the darkness of the human soul.

Fast Girls

A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.