Image Credit: Serendipity Films
ShortsHD also facilitated the nominated shorts’ recent release on iTunes and VOD, though ShortsHD chief executive Carter Pilcher recommends seeing them on the big screen, especially the live action line-up.
“This is probably the most cinematic year we’ve ever had [for live action nominees]. They’re short films, but they’re big. They tell big stories and they look gorgeous on the big screen,” Pilcher told EW. “We had huge, epic scenes of horseback riding in Afghanistan, and Curfew has this beautiful, weird, kind of surreal atmosphere. And the cinematography in Death of a Shadow [pictured above] is probably some of the best in any film this year.”
Information on where the shorts continue to screen in theaters can be found on ShortsHD’s website.
Other honorees at the Shorts Awards were:
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus — Visionary Actress Award for starring in short film Picture Paris
• Matthew Modine – Visionary Director Award for helming several short films (most memorably, the controversial Jesus Was a Commie)
• Joan Gratz – Visionary Animator Award for pioneering an animation technique known as clay painting
• Nik Powell – Visionary Leader Award for his work as director of the National Film and Television School in England, where Reckart made Head Over Heels for his thesis project – and the alma mater of Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park (recipient of ShortsHD’s Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s Shorts Awards)
Additional notable attendees included Luke Matheny, who won an Oscar for his student film in 2011; Cambria Russell, one of the subjects in Mondays at Racine, about breast cancer patients’ experience losing their hair – she was all glammed out and had a head full of hair Friday night; and Fawad Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz, the two young Afghan actors in Buzkashi Boys, who traveled to the U.S. for the first time to attend the Academy Awards.
For more on the making of this year’s Oscar-nominated short films, check out EW’s posts on the animation, live action, and documentary categories. The Oscar winners will be announced Sunday during a live telecast on ABC that begins 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET.
Follow Emily on Twitter: @EmilyNRome
