Meet These Shorts

For the second year in a row, Sun-Ray Cinema is presenting two programs featuring the short films nominated for Oscars in the animated short and live-action short categories.

Last year’s Academy Award-winner for animated short was “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” “The Shore” took home the Oscar for best live-action short.

ANIMATED SHORTS

ADAM AND DOG
Director: Minkyu Lee
Running time: 15 minutes
The hand-drawn animation tells the story of the relationship between Adam and the world’s first dog in the Garden of Eden. According to Lee, the short tries to explain the special bond between dogs and mankind.

FRESH GUACAMOLE
Director: PES
Running time: 2 minutes
In this stop-motion animation, an unseen cook prepares a bowl of guacamole using unusual ingredients such as a grenade, a light bulb and a baseball.

HEAD OVER HEELS
Director: Timothy Reckart
Running time: 11 minutes
After many years of marriage, Walter and Madge have grown apart: He lives on the floor and she lives on the ceiling. In this stop-motion animation, when Walter tries to reignite their old romance, their equilibrium comes crashing down, and the couple that can’t agree which way is up must find a way put their marriage back together.

MAGGIE SIMPSON IN THE LONGEST DAYCARE
Director: David Silverman
Running time: 5 minutes
Maggie Simpson of “The Simpsons” spends the day in the Ayn Rand School for Tots.

PAPERMAN
Director: John Kahrs
Running time: 7 minutes
This black-and-white Disney short follows a lonely, mid-century New York City man, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute. Convinced the girl of his dreams is gone forever, the young man gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office.


LIVE ACTION SHORTS

ASAD
Director: Bryan Buckley
Running time: 18 minutes
This coming-of-age fable follows a Somali boy as he struggles to survive in his war-torn land, having to decide between a career in piracy or life as a fisherman.

BUZKASHI BOYS
Director: Sam French
Running time: 28 minutes
“Buzkashi Boys” is the story of two best friends — a charismatic street urchin and a defiant blacksmith’s son — who struggle to realize their dreams as they make their way to manhood in one of the most war-torn countries on Earth. Shot on location in Kabul city by an alliance of Afghan and international filmmakers, it's a look at the life that continues beyond the headlines of war in Afghanistan.

CURFEW
Director: Shawn Christensen
Running time: 19 minutes
At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his 9-year-old niece, Sophia, for a few hours.

DEATH OF A SHADOW
Director: Tom Van Avermaet
Running time: 20 minutes
Soldier Nathan died during World War I. A strange collector imprisoned his shadow and gave him a new chance: a second life against 10,000 captured shadows. It is love that guides him, as his purpose is to see Sarah again, the woman he fell in love with before he died. When he discovers she’s in love with someone else, jealousy clouds his mind and pushes him toward a bitter decision, not without consequences.

HENRY
Director: Yan England
Running time: 21 minutes
Henry, a great concert pianist, has his life thrown in turmoil the day the love of his life, Maria, disappears mysteriously. He undergoes a series of confusing experiences as he searches for his wife.