I believe the most obscure of the Oscar categories is the best documentary short category. There isn’t a lot of glitz and glamor associated with documentary filmmaking, and that is even more true when it comes to the short films. Still, we need to recognize that notoriety does not equal quality. Short documentaries are an artform unto themselves, offering powerful, quick-hitting commentary on underexplored topics.
The most high-profile nominee this year for best documentary short film is probably “The Last Repair Shop” directed by previous nominees Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers. The film follows the craftspeople who restore and maintain thousands of instruments on behalf of the young people of Los Angeles. Bowers is a relatively popular name in Hollywood circles, especially for his musical contributions, and the connection between education and the arts is one of the major themes of his work.
The theme of education is strongly felt in “The ABCs of Book Banning,” an ironically titled short with Florida’s anti-Constitutional book banning movement at its core. The silencing of LGBT and minority voices and writing is a hallmark of tyrannical people and institutions, and it’s clearly back in vogue in certain pockets of this country. Florida is the heart of the culture war right now, so it’s a suitable setting for this critical watch about the erosion of America’s literary integrity.
Arlo Washington is “The Barber of Little Rock,” the title behind another of this year’s nominated documentary shorts. Washington is an awesome character who is far from a keyboard activist. He leveraged the respect he gathered in his community and established Arkansas’ first black-owned bank. These efforts have been in the name of reducing the racial wealth gap. His story has, at this point, been well-documented, but I love it getting some wide exposure at the Oscars.
“Island in Between” documents the bitter (to say the least) relationship between China and Taiwan. Truthfully, everything I’ve read and heard of this conflict puts China in the wrong, and so it would be easy to create a documentary that paints broad strokes onto this story. However, the documentary focuses particularly closely on the Kinmen islands, a geographic hot spot in the conflict, and the more human aspects of a worldwide point of intrigue.
“Nai Nai & Wài Pó” rounds out the roster of nominees. The film is a personal one for director Sean Wang; the subjects are his two immigrant grandmothers. For those looking for a more accessible documentary short, this might be the one. Disney recently purchased “Nai Nai & Wài Pó” and are rolling it out as part of a docu-series originally imagined by Walt himself. Surely it’s no coincidence that the House of Mouse latched onto this project.
I love seeing documentary shorts get the industry support of the Oscars. Other documentarians are the ones who choose these particular nominees, so there is some added weight to the honor. For your purposes, these five films can teach you a little something about the human experience without taking up too much of your time.
