Two Distant Strangers directors Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe won their first Oscar for Best Live-Action Short tonight at the 93rd Academy Awards.
In his acceptance speech, Free exclaimed that “God is good,” before launching into a statement on policing in America. “Today, the police will kill three people, and tomorrow, the police will kill three people—and the day after that, police will kill three people,” he said, “because on average, the police in America everyday kill three people, which amounts to about 1,000 people per year.”
Noting that “those people happen to disproportionately be Black people,” he then went on to reference iconic writer James Baldwin, who once said, “The most despicable thing a person can be is indifferent to other peoples’ pain.”
“So, I just ask that you please not be indifferent,” Free pleaded, in closing. “Please don’t be indifferent to our pain.”
Roe followed this...
In his acceptance speech, Free exclaimed that “God is good,” before launching into a statement on policing in America. “Today, the police will kill three people, and tomorrow, the police will kill three people—and the day after that, police will kill three people,” he said, “because on average, the police in America everyday kill three people, which amounts to about 1,000 people per year.”
Noting that “those people happen to disproportionately be Black people,” he then went on to reference iconic writer James Baldwin, who once said, “The most despicable thing a person can be is indifferent to other peoples’ pain.”
“So, I just ask that you please not be indifferent,” Free pleaded, in closing. “Please don’t be indifferent to our pain.”
Roe followed this...
- 4/26/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The current odds in our predictions center indicate that “The Letter Room” is out front to win this year’s Oscar for Best Live Action Short. These odds are calculated based on the forecasts made by our Expert film journalists, Gold Derby Editors, Top 24 Users and the thousands of regular Gold Derby readers making their predictions.
But is there a chance that one of the other nominees could upset this frontrunner? Let’s examine all five of this year’s nominees, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
“The Letter Room” (odds of winning: 71/20)
Richard (Oscar Isaac) is a correctional officer who is transferred to a new position in the prison’s mail room. As he scans letters for prohibited content, he finds himself becoming drawn to the letters a death row prisoner receives from his girlfriend that are never replied to.
This marks the first Oscar nomination for Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan.
But is there a chance that one of the other nominees could upset this frontrunner? Let’s examine all five of this year’s nominees, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
“The Letter Room” (odds of winning: 71/20)
Richard (Oscar Isaac) is a correctional officer who is transferred to a new position in the prison’s mail room. As he scans letters for prohibited content, he finds himself becoming drawn to the letters a death row prisoner receives from his girlfriend that are never replied to.
This marks the first Oscar nomination for Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan.
- 4/22/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
The Oscar-nominated live action shorts come from filmmakers based in the U.S., U.K, and the Mideast. They all center on the human desire to be seen as people.
Feeling Through
Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
Roland’s entry into the deaf-blind community came through a chance meeting about 10 years ago with a man holding up a sign asking for help to cross the street late one night in New York City. He was so struck by the encounter that he wrote the script for “Feeling Through” and completed it in 2019 with the help of the Helen Keller National Center and its now CEO, Ruzenski, who is nominated with him. Authenticity matters to Roland, so he cast Robert Tarango, whom he discovered working in the cafeteria at the Hknc. “I’m really happy that there is some strong disability representation this year,” he says, referencing his fellow nominees like “Sound of Metal.
Feeling Through
Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
Roland’s entry into the deaf-blind community came through a chance meeting about 10 years ago with a man holding up a sign asking for help to cross the street late one night in New York City. He was so struck by the encounter that he wrote the script for “Feeling Through” and completed it in 2019 with the help of the Helen Keller National Center and its now CEO, Ruzenski, who is nominated with him. Authenticity matters to Roland, so he cast Robert Tarango, whom he discovered working in the cafeteria at the Hknc. “I’m really happy that there is some strong disability representation this year,” he says, referencing his fellow nominees like “Sound of Metal.
- 4/1/2021
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
“White Eye” is on the Oscar shortlist for a Best Live Action Short nomination, an outcome that its writer and director Tomer Shushan could not have anticipated when he was entering the finished film to festivals two years ago. He explains in his exclusive interview with Gold Derby (watch the video above), “Because it’s a short film, the only place that you can screen it and present it is mostly in film festivals, so for one year, I just got negative answers and the film didn’t go nowhere, so I thought it was a big failure and I was a bit upset about it.”
His solution was to remove the first four minutes of the film; the remaining 20 minutes then screened at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Narrative Short. “Then the film started to go to lots of film festivals,” recounts Shushan,...
His solution was to remove the first four minutes of the film; the remaining 20 minutes then screened at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Narrative Short. “Then the film started to go to lots of film festivals,” recounts Shushan,...
- 3/5/2021
- by Riley Chow
- Gold Derby
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Oscars Predictions:
Best Live Action Short Film
Updated: Feb. 25, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: There seems to be a strong three films at the top Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Human Voice” (with Tilda Swinton), Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s “Two Distant Strangers” (with Joey...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Oscars Predictions:
Best Live Action Short Film
Updated: Feb. 25, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: There seems to be a strong three films at the top Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Human Voice” (with Tilda Swinton), Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s “Two Distant Strangers” (with Joey...
- 2/25/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The drama is directed by Mexico’s Fernandez Valadez
Mexican director Fernanda Valadez’s Identifying Features has won the Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place entirely online from November 5-15. The award is a cash prize of £15,000.
The Mexico–Spain co-production previously won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Award at Sundance earlier this year followed by more trophies at San Sebastian, Zurich and Morelia. The film is about on a mother searching for her missing son who tried to emigrate illegally to the US. Alpha Violet handles world sales.
Mexican director Fernanda Valadez’s Identifying Features has won the Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place entirely online from November 5-15. The award is a cash prize of £15,000.
The Mexico–Spain co-production previously won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Award at Sundance earlier this year followed by more trophies at San Sebastian, Zurich and Morelia. The film is about on a mother searching for her missing son who tried to emigrate illegally to the US. Alpha Violet handles world sales.
- 11/16/2020
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
The Thessaloniki Film Festival’s industry arm, Agora, announced the awards from this year’s online edition at a virtual ceremony held Friday.
The Crossroads Co-Production Forum’s Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, which offers full post-production image and sound to the winning project, went to writer-director Estibaliz Urresola’s “20,000 Species of Bees,” produced by Lara Izagirre of Spain’s Gariza Films.
The jury praised the project “for the exceptional directorial vision of a fragile universe composed of sensations of nature, experienced by a transgender girl while her family matures towards acceptance, and a subject we feel is immensely important.” The film also received a full scholarship to the Mediterranean Film Institute’s Script 2 Film Workshop.
The French Cnc Development Award, in the amount of €8,000, went to “Birthday,” from writer-director Lara Zeidan, and producers Séverine Tibi and Anaïs Calmels of Sevana Films (Lebanon/France), “for a compelling personal story, supported by...
The Crossroads Co-Production Forum’s Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, which offers full post-production image and sound to the winning project, went to writer-director Estibaliz Urresola’s “20,000 Species of Bees,” produced by Lara Izagirre of Spain’s Gariza Films.
The jury praised the project “for the exceptional directorial vision of a fragile universe composed of sensations of nature, experienced by a transgender girl while her family matures towards acceptance, and a subject we feel is immensely important.” The film also received a full scholarship to the Mediterranean Film Institute’s Script 2 Film Workshop.
The French Cnc Development Award, in the amount of €8,000, went to “Birthday,” from writer-director Lara Zeidan, and producers Séverine Tibi and Anaïs Calmels of Sevana Films (Lebanon/France), “for a compelling personal story, supported by...
- 11/14/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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