Here are the 10 nominated shorts. A brief review follows the one sentence description provided by the pr company. I screened these with three friends … our four subjective grades are included with each title.

Live Action

IL SUPPLENTE: (Italy) The arrival of an unusual newcomer galvanizes the students in a high school classroom.
It's fast-paced, full of fun and surprise, never a dull moment, great camera movement and acting. Cute little message. A, B+, B+, B+.

TANGHI ARGENTINI: (Belgium) A man who must learn to dance the tango in two weeks asks an office colleague for help.
Warm wonderful fun, the best film I've seen in a long time. I loved it! Great short to play at Christmas time! A+, A-, A-, A-.

AT NIGHT: (Denmark) Three young women share their problems while spending the holidays in a hospital cancer ward.
Good acting and dialogue, nice message, a bit of a downer and it feels a tad long (for a short). A-, A-, B+, B-.

LE MOZART DES PICKPOCKETS: (France) A pair of unlucky thieves find their fortunes have changed when they take in a deaf homeless boy.
Cute, a likable team of foils and sweet kid. A-,B-,B+,B+

TONTO WOMAN: (UK) A cattle rustler meets a woman who is living in isolation after being held prisoner for eleven years by Mojave Indians.
It's trying a bit too hard to show off seemingly contrived drama. The story doesn't impress. Poor casting on the husband. Slow and meandering. C-, C+, B, B-.

Animation

MEME LES PIGIONS VONT AU PARADIS (France) A priest tries to sell an old man a machine that he promises will transport him to heaven..
Great animation, cute old man, twisted story. One blood spurt scene feels quite out of place. B, B, B-, B.

MY LOVE (Russia) A teenage boy in search of love is drawn to two very different women.
Beautiful Monet-like animation, engaging though confusing story, though a tad on the soapy side. Sweet like daydreaming. We all agreed we would have loved it more with a great score and no dialogue. Personally, I would love these filmmakers to take my book "Rodney Appleseed" and bring it to life in this style of animation. A-, A-, B-, B.

MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI (Canada) A timid woman boards a mysterious night train and has a series of frightening experience.
Fantastic looking, creepy and surreal, amazing animation, better than "Nightmare before Christmas." But where does it go??? We didn't get it, but we love how it looked, the eyes, the movement, the pasty skin. A, A-,B+,A-.

PETER & THE WOLF (UK & Poland) A young boy and his animal friends face a hungry wolf in Prokofiev's classic musical piece.
Great eye language and animation, very cute and good drama, they really made us care. A-, A-, A, B+.

I MET THE WALRUS (CANADA) In 1969, 14-year-old Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room with his tape recorder and persuaded him to do an interview.
Inventive and fun, animated with revolver-esque illustrations. Great fun. Short. (We were all Beatle fans.) A, A-, A, A

Worth seeing just for TANGHI ARGENTINI alone!

-- Book Contest --