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If the Academy judged features by the same standards that they do live action shorts, the best picture ballot would be full of starry, quasi-political issue movies: well-meaning but manipulative films like “Father Stu” and “The Janes.” In this category, it’s the message that matters to Oscar voters, which makes this year’s “2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action” program (available exclusively in theaters from ShortsTV) one of the most frustrating lineups in recent memory. Or it would, if not for the presence of one genuinely brilliant, liberatingly unserious nominee among them. That would be “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” the best of several delightful Roald Dahl adaptations director Wes Anderson cooked up for Netflix … but we’ll come to that in due time.

The slate opens with a far inferior Netflix short, “The After,” a risibly manipulative portrait of grief and finding the strength to move...

Ahead of the Academy Awards, we’ve reviewed every short film in each category: Animation, Documentary, and Live Action. Here are the Best Live Action Short nominees:

Invincible | Canada | 30 minutes

The line “I’ll never be in your position” hits hard about halfway through Vincent René-Lortie’s Invincible. We’ve already seen it come true because of where Marc (Léokim Beaumier-Lépine) ends up––courtesy the prologue-set future that unfolds before the short film rewinds backwards in time––but those words are less premonition than tragic reality. He speaks them in response to his juvenile-detention-center case worker (Ralph Prosper’s Luc) asking what he should do about the boy’s latest transgression. Despite good grades and an empathetic heart, Marc finds himself on a path that does not lead towards authoritative roles. His past deeds have marked him. His present resentments have destroyed hope.

Based on true events, Marc’s dual...

A morgue is not often a place associated with laughter or new beginnings but Danish filmmaker Lasse Lyskjær Noer’s Oscar nominated dark comedy Knight of Fortune (Ridder Lykke) is a refreshingly humorous look at the ways in which we handle grief. Emotionally crippled by the loss of his wife Karl, played by Swedish actor Leif Andrée, finds an unexpected but strangely comforting moment of solace when he meets fellow widower Torben, played by Jens Jørn Spottag in the men’s toilets. Knight of Fortune is supposed to make you laugh and Noer innately understands that even in the darkness of sorrow, laughter is a natural and common release valve which enhances rather than diminishes the film’s thematic core. Continuing Dn’s interview series with this year’s short film Academy Awards contenders, we spoke to Noer about finding an unscripted gem when filming in their disused hospital location,...

“I just try to enjoy it,” declares writer and director Lasse Noer about his first brush with potential Oscar glory. Noer’s film “Knight of Fortune” has been shortlisted for Best Live Action Short at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards. In an exclusive chat with Gold Derby (watch the video above), Noer and the film’s producer Kim Magnusson discuss the film’s melding of humor and grief and the important role that short films play in fostering new talent.

“Knight of Fortune” follows Karl (Leif Andrée) as he visits a morgue to say goodbye to his deceased wife. Karl encounters Torben (Jens Jørn Spottag), a fellow widower burdened by his own grief. The film deftly balances sorrow and humor, something the filmmakers said was crucial to the film’s intent. “I think that grief and laughing are not so far away from each other,” argues Noer. “I think it...

The 32nd American Film Market (Afm) – taking place Nov. 2-9 in Santa Monica, CA – will be screening 395 films, including 65 world premieres and 295 market premieres – the works of prominent actors and directors including Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Jackie Chan, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Fassbender, William Friedkin, Amy Heckerling, Kiera Knightly, Richard Linklater, Matthew McConaughey, Carey Mulligan, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Todd Solondz, Aurdrey Tautou and Michelle Williams. The 2011 Afm will take place Nov. 2-9 in Santa Monica, CA.

Films making their World Premieres include A Gang Story, starring Gérard Lanvin and Tchéky Karyo; Bad Karma, starring Ray Liotta, Dominic Purcell and Rhona Mitra; Columbus Circle, starring Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Giovanni Ribisi and Kevin Pollak; Nobel’S Last Will, starring Malin Crépin, Björn Kjellman and Leif Andrée; Snowflake, The White Gorilla, starring Elsa Pataky and Pere Ponce; Special Forces, starring Diane Kruger, Djimon Hounsou and Benoit Magimel; and The Expatriate, starring Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko.