Test your Academy Award predicting abilities on Sunday, Feb 25 at the Oscar Shorts presented by Q99 and the Prairie Mall. Prizes valued at $662 to be won! See all ten Oscar nominated short films at GPLT (Grande Prairie Live Theatre) – the Oscar Animated Shorts at 3:00pm and the Oscar Live Action Shorts package at 7:30pm. Both packages are rated 14A. Scroll down to view the trailers followed by “making of” and other bonus videos. Buy tickets online or at the door.
Three items to note about the ten nominated films:
- three are based on true stories: DeKalb Elementary, My Nephew Emmett, and Watu Wote (All of Us)
- three are student films: Garden Party, DeKalb Elementary, and Watu Wote (All of Us)
- three have ties to previous Reel Shorts Film Festivals:
- Garden Party had its Alberta premiere at the 2017 Reel Shorts Film Festival.
- Revolting Rhymes is a production of Magic Light Pictures in London, England. We have had the privilege of screening other films of theirs at previous festivals: The Gruffalo in 2011; The Gruffalo’s Child in 2013; and Room on the Broom in 2014. Animation Supervisor Jacob Frey is another connection. Two of his student films, created while at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Germany, screened at our festival: Bob in 2011 and The Present which is one of my favorite short films of all time. Both can be watched in the bonus videos below. Jacob then joined Walt Disney Animation Studios and became one of the 40 volunteer Disney animators who worked on Weeds, one of the three highly commended films that are also in the Oscar Animated Shorts package along with the five that are nominated.
- The Eleven O’Clock has a character named Donna played by Alyssa McClelland who was at our 2010 festival with Emilia Eckle, the delightful comedy that she wrote, directed, and co-starred in. She participated in Q&As after the film screened in the high school and junior high packages, and she visited 6 classrooms to show her film and talk with the students about her experiences as a filmmaker in Australia. Her film is available to watch in the bonus videos below.
5 Prizes (total value $662)
Oscar Animated Shorts – 2 prizes (total value $194)
- Best Animated Character (value $50): Dress up as your favourite animated character from film or TV for a chance to win a $50 Prairie Mall gift card
- Animated Oscar Winner (value $154): The first person whose ballot is drawn that correctly predicts the Oscar winner on March 4 will win 4 ticket vouchers (value $48) to the Reel Shorts Film Festival May 8-14, 2 Cineplex Events tickets (value $56), and a $50 Prairie Mall gift card
Oscar Live Action Shorts – 2 prizes (total value $194)
- Best Red Carpet Finery (value $50): Dress for the Oscars in gown or tux for a chance to win a $50 Prairie Mall gift card
- Live Action Oscar Winner (value $154): The first person whose ballot is drawn that correctly predicts the Oscar winner on March 4 will win 4 ticket vouchers (value $48) to the Reel Shorts Film Festival May 8-14, 2 Cineplex Events tickets (value $56), and a $50 Prairie Mall gift card
Grand Prize Winner – 1 prize (value $274)
- The first person whose ballots are drawn that correctly predict the Animated Oscar Winner AND the Live Action Oscar Winner on March 4 will win 2 Reel Shorts Fest Passes (value $118), 2 Cineplex Events tickets (value $56), and $100 in Prairie Mall gift cards
Trailers
Oscar Animated Shorts
Presented by Q99 and the Prairie Mall, this 83-minute package includes the 5 films nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film followed by 3 highly commended films. It’s rated 14A.
Dear Basketball
USA, 2017, 5 minutes
Negative Space
France, 2018, 5 minutes
Making Of NEGATIVE SPACE
LOU
USA, 2017, 7 minutes
Revolting Rhymes
UK, 2016, 29 minutes
Garden Party
France, 2016, 7 minutes
Behind the Scenes – Garden Party (Advisory: non-sexual nudity)
Lost Property Office
Australia, 2017, 10 minutes
Weeds
USA, 2017, 3 minutes
For a fascinating look at the making of a 3-minute animated film by a group of volunteer Disney artists, watch the fascinating 2-hour and 17-minute presentation at Gnomon School of Visual Effects.
Oscar Live Action Shorts
Presented by Q99 and the Prairie Mall, this 99-minute package includes the 5 films nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. It’s rated 14A (Coarse Language, Violence).
DeKalb Elementary
USA, 2017, 20 minutes
The Silent Child
UK, 2017, 20 minutes
Read about it in Kate Erbland’s Feb 15, 2018 IndieWire article Oscar-Nominated ‘The Silent Child’ Writer Rachel Shenton on Developing a Complicated Role for a Deaf Child Actor
My Nephew Emmett
USA, 2017, 19 minutes
The Eleven O’Clock
Australia, 2016, 13 minutes
Watu Wote (All of Us)
Germany/Kenya, 2017, 22 minutes
Bonus Films to Watch
Student Films of Jacob Frey, Animation Supervisor on Revolting Rhymes
Bob
Germany, 2009, 3 minutes (2011 Reel Shorts Film Festival)
The Present
Germany, 2014, 4 minutes (2015 Reel Shorts Film Festival)
Film written, directed, and co-starring Alyssa McClelland who was a visiting filmmaker at our 2010 festival, Actress who plays Donna in The Eleven O’Clock
Emilia Eckle
Australia, 2009, 7 minutes
Oscar Animated Shorts stills
Oscar Live Action Shorts stills
