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In the week leading up to the 89th Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a series of public programs celebrating this year’s nominees in the Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Animated and Live Action Short Film categories. All events will be held at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Wamg attended the annual AMPAS reception featuring the 2016 Oscar nominated films in the Animated and Live-Action Short Film categories. The program featured screenings of all the nominated films in these categories, plus an onstage discussion with the filmmakers.

The evening was hosted by director Tim Miller (Deadpool), who himself was nominated in the Animated Short category in 2005 (Gopher Broke). In his opening comments, a clearly emotional Miller spoke about shorts being, for most filmmakers, a labor of love rather than a means to getting awards and accolades.

MaryAnn’s quick take… My pick: “Pearl” [pictured], blending new Vr tech with old-fashioned characters and emotions, demonstrating storytelling possibilities that are beginning to open up. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

The lessons and legacies parents pass on to their children. The dangers of not living in the present… or living too much in the present. These are the motifs woven through the five short animated films nominated for the Oscar this year.

“Pearl” is a lovely sketch of the creative bond between a father and daughter.

My favorite, and the one I’d like to see win, is “Pearl” [IMDb], from Disney animator Patrick Osborne (Big Hero 6), who won in this category two years ago with his delightful “Feast.” A lovely sketch of a relationship between a father and daughter from their rough early...

Borrowed Time is an insightful and thoughtful look at grief as told through the eyes of its lead character, a cowboy. Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj are the Pixar animators...

The Oscar for best animated short film may not generate nearly as much attention as other categories, but it strikes an exciting contrast with the more traditional forms of storytelling found throughout other categories.

These films usually celebrate animators from around the world — including a number of up-and-comers — who apply a range of visual techniques and sophisticated concepts only possible in the animated medium. This year is entirely North American, but still features a lot of different approaches — and yet, ironically, the frontrunner in the category is a very familiar name: Pixar.

Read More: 2017 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Review: Humanity Prevails in This Politically Charged Group

Fortunately, the company’s latest short deserves the hype. Of course, just landing a nomination helps bring additional attention to these titles, and anyone seeking them out will discover an exciting range of experiences. While this isn’t the strongest list of nominees in recent years,...

Ahead of the Academy Awards, we’re reviewing each short category. See the Animation section below and the other shorts sections here.

Blind Vaysha – Canada – 8 minutes

I did a double take upon hearing Theodore Ushev‘s name alongside his animated short Blind Vaysha during the Oscar nominations because I’ve watched his work progress the past five years. This Canadian by way of Bulgaria is a Toronto International Film Festival staple, a guy who alters his aesthetic with every new project. Whether rotoscoping, hybridizing Cubism and Constructivism, or dabbling in Abstract Expressionism, though, you always know it’s an Ushev film because of its content and craftsmanship. His latest is no different, the adoption of woodcutting lending an old school storybook feel to a tale that speaks towards today’s climate of hope and despair. Narrated by Caroline Dhavernas, Vaysha’s story begs us to open our eyes and see...

With the 2017 Academy Awards just around the corner, it’s time to race to theaters to see this year’s contenders like La La Land and Hidden Figures. But don’t forget about the often overlooked categories of Best Animated Short and Best Live-Action Short.

Ranging from heartbreaking to inspirational, the nominees in these categories are worth a watch. And the best part? Even with 10 films to watch, it’s not a big time commitment!

Find out how to watch the projects ahead of the Feb. 26 award ceremony.

How to Watch Animated Short Film Nominees:

Blind Vaysha

This short from...

‘Pearl’ (Courtesy: Google Spotlight Stories)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

Those of you who haven’t been taking virtual reality seriously should start doing so right now. For the first time ever, the Oscars have nominated a Vr film, which means the filmmaking style is officially taking hold and is undoubtedly here to stay — at least for the time being. Pearl has snagged a nomination in the best animated short category and stands a chance at winning big. Let’s take a look at what this moment means for the future of Vr and how it stands against the competition.

Pearl — a 2016 film by Google Spotlight Story and Evil Eye Pictures — tells the story of a girl and her dad chasing their dreams as they cross the United States in an old hatchback, their makeshift home, named Pearl. Music, created by both the father and daughter, is at the center...

It’s been 16 years since Pixar won the Oscar for best animated short (Ralph Eggleston’s “For the Birds”). Wouldn’t it be fitting if Alan Barillaro’s fine-feathered “Piper” ended the drought? That would give Pixar four Oscars (alongside Geri’s Game” and “Tin Toy”).

However, “Piper” faces stiff competition, particularly from Theodore Ushev’s much darker “Blind Vaysha” from the National Film Board of Canada, which has earned a dozen Oscars.

The other three contenders range from Robert Valley’s bleak “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” (Vimeo’s first Oscar nom), the melancholy Western, “Borrowed Time” (made independently by Pixar’s Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj), and the introspective “Pearl” from Oscar winner Patrick Osborne (Disney’s “Feast”), the first Vr nominee from Google Spotlight Stories.

“Piper”

The rite of passage for the adorable sand piper continues a long Pixar tradition of incubating innovative tech in its shorts program.

The nominations for the 89th Academy Awards are in and La La Land leads the pack with 14 nominations! I knew La La Land was going to explode at this event, and it's probably going to end up taking home many of the awards is was nominated for. The 14 nominations ties the record with 1997's Titanic and 1950's All About Eve.

Arrival ended up with eight nominations as did Moonlight, while Hacksaw Ridge, Lion, and Manchester by the Sea all got six. Deadpool ended up with zero nominations. I was hoping to see it somewhere on the list, but it looks like all that hype didn't work.

Every film and actor who was nominated for their work deserves to be on this list, so congratulations to them all! There are so many great films and actors to root for, but there can be only one winner in each category.

Jimmy Kimmel...

This year a record 69 animated short films vied for an Oscar nomination, with ten making the shortlist, and five final nominations.

For six years, Disney or Pixar has been nominated in the category every year, and won twice (“Paperman” and “Feast”). This year Pixar’s “Piper,” from Alan Barillaro (“Wall·E,” “Brave,” “Finding Nemo”), could mark a Pixar win for the first time since Ralph Eggleston’s “For the Birds” 15 years ago. That would give Pixar four Oscars (alongside Geri’s Game” and “Tin Toy”).

Read more: Oscars 2017 Animated Shorts: Will ‘Piper’ End Pixar’s 15-Year Drought?

However, “Piper” faces stiff competition, particularly from Theodore Ushev’s much darker “Blind Vaysha” from the National Film Board of Canada, which has earned a dozen Oscars. The other three contenders range from Robert Valley’s bleak “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” (Vimeo’s first Oscar nom), the melancholy Western, “Borrowed Time” (made independently...

This year a record 69 animated short films vied for an Oscar nomination, with ten making the shortlist.

For six years, Disney or Pixar has been nominated in the category every year, and won twice (“Paperman” and “Feast”). This year both studios have films on the shortlist, “Inner Workings” (Disney) and “Piper” (Pixar). Other animated shorts included in the 10 are Robert Valley’s “Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Franck Dion’s “The Head Vanishes” and Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj’s “Borrowed Time.”

Read More: 2017 Oscars: Record 70 Animated Shorts Vie for Shortlist of Ten

After December screenings in La, NY, London and San Francisco, Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members selected five nominees to be announced on Tuesday, January 24.

The 10 animated short films, along with their production companies and trailer, are below in alphabetical order:

Frontrunners

“Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada)

“Borrowed Time,” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj,...

This year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had a record 69 animated short films vying for a nomination. Now the 10 titles that will advance in the voting process for the 89th Academy Awards have been announced.

For six years, Disney or Pixar has been nominated in the category every year, and won twice (“Paperman” and “Feast”). This year both studios have films on the shortlist, “Inner Workings” (Disney) and “Piper” (Pixar). Other animated shorts included in the 10 are Robert Valley’s “Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Franck Dion’s “The Head Vanishes” and Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj’s “Borrowed Time.”

Read More: 2017 Oscars: Record 70 Animated Shorts Vie for Shortlist of Ten

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select five nominees from among the 10 titles. Screening of each will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

The final five will be announced,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 89th Academy Awards.

A total of 69 pictures had originally qualified in the category. The short films and feature animation branch will now select five nominees from the 10 titles on the shortlist.

The films are:

Blind Vaysha, Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada)

Borrowed Time, Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, directors (Quorum Films)

Happy End, Jan Saska, director (Famu - Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences isn’t taking today off, announcing its shortlist for Animated Shorts category at the 89th Oscars. They are: Blind Vaysha, Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada) Borrowed Time, Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, directors (Quorum Films) Happy End, Jan Saska, director (Famu – Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) The Head Vanishes, Franck Dion, director (Papy3D Productions, National…...

This year the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation branch has deemed eligible a record 70 animated shorts to vie for the shortlist of ten, followed by the final five nominations for the Oscar. That’s 10 more than last year’s 60.

The number of qualified shorts has been growing steadily, from 33 in 2010 to 58 in 2014.

Members of the branch who volunteer to serve will now view the shorts and rate the films. The ten best-rated shorts will go on the shortlist, to be revealed in November. A larger group will check those out and cull the final five which will be announced on Tuesday, January 24. The shorts will be sent to the entire Academy, who will vote on the winner.

Cartoon Brew got hold of the list of qualified contenders, and assesses what they consider to be the best of the best, including trailers. The Academy has not released that list.

This year the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation branch has deemed eligible a record 70 animated shorts to vie for the shortlist of ten, followed by the final five nominations for the Oscar. That’s 10 more than last year’s 60.

The number of qualified shorts has been growing steadily, from 33 in 2010 to 58 in 2014.

Members of the branch who volunteer to serve will now view the shorts and rate the films. The ten best-rated shorts will go on the shortlist, to be revealed in November. A larger group will check those out and cull the final five which will be announced on Tuesday, January 24. The shorts will be sent to the entire Academy, who will vote on the winner.

Cartoon Brew got hold of the list of qualified contenders, and assesses what they consider to be the best of the best, including trailers. The Academy has not released that list.

Two of Pixar’s animators, Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj (“Inside Out,” “Brave”), have made the first off-the-shelf CG short at the studio. After winning a slew of film festival awards (including Siggraph’s prestigious Best in Show), the adult Western “Borrowed Time,” produced at Pixar University’s Co-op program, recently went viral on Vimeo. (Watch it below.)

Boasting a beautiful Monument Valley landscape right out of John Ford and Sergio Leone, it’s a sensitive and exquisitely rendered story about a mournful sheriff who returns to the scene of a tragic accident he can no longer escape, as painful memories keep flooding back.

“They have a brand at Pixar and what we did was completely off-brand and they appreciated it, but it was not something that Pixar would literally would ever make,” Hamou-Lhadj told IndieWire. “There’s themes in it that they could address, but it wouldn’t be done in the same way.

For however much people are keen to tell you the latest Pixar film made them feel all the feels, a few (or a fountain of) tears naturally included, their works don’t get very dark — at least not in their conclusions. (Consider this a way of admitting that, yes, the opening of Up still has a way of rattling yours truly.) It’s nice, then, to see two of their animators experiment a bit with Borrowed Time, a new short (streaming for a limited time via Vimeo) that, were it officially part of their catalogue, may be the first to elicit a genuine “huh!” with the conclusion.

In a featurette that’s included alongside the short, co-director Lou Hamou-Lhadj (who’s credited alongside Andrew Coates) expressed a wish to “make something that kind of contested the notion of animation being a genre, and one for children specifically.” Unless your kids love sad sheriffs,...

Pixar movies aren't necessarily kids' movies, but they do all cater to audiences of all ages, so they have to be appropriate for children in particular. Animated films that are just for grown ups are rare, though not impossible to find (see this year's hit Sausage Party). If only the animation for adults looked and felt like Pixar, though, right? Well, now one does. Borrowed Time is a six-minute gem from co-directors Andrew Coats, who worked as an animator on Inside Out, Brave and Cars 2 (as well as Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs), and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, a "character modeler and articulation artist" for Brave, Wall-e, Toy Story 3 and The Good Dinosaur. It's a Western and a bit too bloody and...

Read More...

Animation is a tremendous art form that can be used to bring the world to life in ways no other medium is capable. Though in America it’s used to make content for children and families that challenge live-action features at the box office, it can be used to tell searing adult stories that connect to the core of the human soul. Pixar animators Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj know this, so in their... Read More...

In their spare time, Pixar animators Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj created this incredible, must watch animated short called "Borrowed Time." It's a western that tells a beautiful and dark story of forgiveness. It follows a weathered Sheriff who "returns to the remains of an accident he has spent a lifetime trying to forget. With each step forward, the memories come flooding back. Faced with his mistake once again, he must find the strength to carry on." This is an emotional and powerful short that really punches you in the gut, and it's a film that you have to see! Below the short, I included a featurette for that explains why the two animators made the film. This is easily one of the best shorts I've seen in 2016.

This is a wonderful, heartbreaking short film that everyone needs to see. Borrowed Time is an animated short film from directors Andrew Coats & Lou Hamou-Lhadj. It's about an aging Sheriff going back to retrace the steps of the location where an accident took place years ago that he can never forget. Coats and Hamou-Lhadj explain in the making of video that they wanted to tell a more "adult" story with animation that "contested the notion of animation being a genre, and one for children specifically." The bigger theme of forgiveness is very potent in this, but there is also a focus on the emotions of overcoming hardship and letting go of your past. I've been thinking about this short every day since I first watched it. Don't miss this. Description from Vimeo: "A weathered Sheriff returns to the remains of an accident he has spent a lifetime trying to forget.

Pixar has built a legacy of smart movies that both parents and children can love. But two of the company’s animators have collaborated to share a much darker vision in the wonderful short film “Borrowed Time.” After winning several festival awards, the short is now available to watch for free via Vimeo.

The film, set in a beautifully animated Old West, deals with facing grief after a horrible accident. Co-directors Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj took five years to develop this short, while keeping up demanding schedules working on films such as “Inside Out” and “Brave.” But for the artists it was a creative itch they felt had to be scratched.

Read More: Review: Finding Dory Is The Best Pixar Movie Since Up

“In America, animation has largely become synonymous with kids’ films, whereas elsewhere around the world it’s celebrated as a medium that can be used to tell any story,...

Although this year’s Siggraph theme,”Render the Possibilities,” offers a nice catchphrase for all of the cutting-edge CG eye candy on display next week at the Anaheim Convention Center, there’s also a timely sub-theme revolving around empathy in Vr, which can be witnessed in other presentations as well.

Given the tragic racial violence and anger that has swept the country, Carnegie Mellon University’s Vr experience, “Injustice,” couldn’t be timelier — or more educational. It’s built around racially motivated police brutality. Participants witness an act of racial discrimination, forcing them to make moral and ethical decisions on the spot. They can actively engage with, and alter, the storyline by selecting a variety of dialogue choices.

Similarly, “Invasion!,” explores ideas around character empathy and immersive Vr “presence” with a close alien encounter. Presented in real-time and directed by “Madagascar’s” Eric Darnell, the animated short features narration by Ethan Hawke.