Oscar-nominated short films review: A breadth of genres
Each year, the Oscars’ shorts categories are an opportunity to spotlight a breadth of imagination and emotion across all filmmaking cultures, and for 2021 the sampling reveals a well intentioned tapestry of upheaval’s ripple effects. The live action slate is marked by stories of interactions in which proximity doesn’t always imply easy understanding. For the Palestinian father and young daughter venturing into the West Bank in Farah Nabulsi’s understatedly tense “The Present,” a simple shopping trip to buy mom a gift is a humiliating reminder of institutionalized otherness with ea...