2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action

The Piano

May 1993 •English

A mute Scottish woman arrives in colonial New Zealand for an arranged marriage. Her husband refuses to move her beloved piano, giving it to neighbor George Baines, who agrees to return the piano in exchange for lessons. As desire swirls around the duo, the wilderness consumes the European enclave.

Business as Usual - Der Prophet fliegt mit

January 2014 •German

Earth and Ashes

May 2004 •Pashto

Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir must tell Murad that the rest of their family were all killed in a recent bomb attack.

Bangkok Dangerous

November 2000 •Thai

Kong, a deaf-mute, lives a life of quiet desperation working for Bangkok mobsters. Despite his disability, Kong's mentor Joe trains him to be a stone-cold assassin. After a brutal hit abroad, Kong returns to Bangkok and falls in love with young pharmacy clerk. But when Joe's girlfriend Aom is raped, the duo risk everything for revenge.

Girl, Interrupted

December 1999 •English

Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line between normal and crazy. Susanna soon realizes how hard it is to get out once she has been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people who belong inside or the difficult world of reality outside.

Coming Clean

April 2020 •Portuguese

From the heart of the Amazon comes this exclusive LGBTQ+ compilation from emerging Latin American directors from Brazil and Peru. These 5 thought-provoking shorts prove that universal social themes have no borders. They are: The Last Romantics [Os Últimos Românticos] (2019); Savage Fire [Fogo Selvagem] (2017); My Only Earth Is in the Moon [Minha Única Terra É Na Lua] (2017); Sandra Calling [Sandra Chamando] (2017); Carlito Leaves Forever [Carlito se va para siempre] (2018).

Two in Love

October 1965 •Russian

Sergei, an aspiring musician, accidentally meets a deaf-mute girl, Natasha, and falls in love with her. He has to change a lot to prepare himself for a new relationship with a different and very vulnerable person. Natasha is like an alien or an alieness with whom Sergei has to find a completely new language to speak. Natasha tries hard to understand his musical world. The problem is that Natasha lost her hearing during the war and associates sounds with fear and pain. Even a symphony concert is torture for her.

Mexican Men

March 2016 •English

Who’s up for a sensual, seductive trip with some of the hottest Latin men that have ever graced the Silver Screen? ‘Mexican Men’ collects five of the most accomplished gay shorts from one of the homes of groundbreaking queer cinema. From short encounters, emerging love stories and deeply touching connections, these short films are sure to stir the heart... and body. Includes: Atmosphere [Atmósfera] (2010); To Live [Vivir] (2003); Tremulous [Trémulo] (2015); Wandering Clouds [Nubes flotantes] (2014); Young Man on the Bar Masturbating with Rage and Nerve [Muchacho en la barra se masturba con rabia y osadía] (2015).

Obituaries

June 2014 •English

A chronicle of lives lost in a school shooting. In the wake of another tragedy, we get a glimpse of each victim and see who they were, who they loved, who they hurt, and who they wanted to be.

Mr. Holland's Opus

December 1995 •English

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

Red Dawn

August 1984 •English

It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town—and their country—from invading Soviet forces.

Children of a Lesser God

September 1986 •English

Starting his new job as an instructor at a New England school for the deaf, James Leeds meets Sarah Norman, a young deaf woman who works at the school as a member of the custodial staff. In spite of Sarah's withdrawn emotional state, a romance slowly develops between the pair.

Open Your Eyes

December 1997 •Spanish

A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.

Don Juan DeMarco

October 1994 •English

John Arnold DeMarco is a man who believes he is Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world. Clad in a cape and mask, DeMarco undergoes psychiatric treatment with Dr. Jack Mickler to cure him of his apparent delusion. But the psychiatric sessions have an unexpected effect on the psychiatric staff and, most profoundly, Dr Mickler, who rekindles the romance in his complacent marriage.

A Summer Day, Your Voice

October 2015 •Japanese

Tetsuo Togami is in the 2nd grade of high school. Due to a fight, he is hospitalized. There, he meets Maiko Takashiro. She has an incurable disease. She also has a hearing disability and is unable to talk. At first, Tetsuo becomes embarrassed but begins exchanging text messages with Maiko. Through the text messages, he begins having feelings for her. Even after his discharge from the hospital, he goes to visit Maiko every day. They promise to go out together on Maiko's birthday, but her condition worsens.

Elephant

September 2003 •English

Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.

Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume One

September 2001 •English

A collection of five silent comedy shorts co-starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, and produced by their own Comique Film Company: THE BELL BOY (1918), THE BUTCHER BOY (1917), OUT WEST (1918), MOONSHINE (1918), and THE HAYSEED (1919). Volume One of a two-volume DVD series from Kino Video. Musical score by the Alloy Orchestra.

Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume Two

September 2001 •English

A collection of five silent comedy shorts co-starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, and produced by their own Comique Film Company: BACK STAGE (1919), GOOD NIGHT, NURSE! (1918), CONEY ISLAND (1918), THE ROUGH HOUSE (1918), and THE GARAGE (1920). Volume Two of a two-volume DVD series from Kino Video. Musical score by the Alloy Orchestra.

Frailty

April 2002 •English

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."

Más allá del silencio

June 1985 •Spanish

Fidel, a deaf mugger, sees the possibility of a new life after he start attending to a school for the deaf. However his chances are getting shorter as the a police officer is after his trail.