Oscar Shorts - Live Action

The nominated films include:

DeKalb Elementary
Director: Reed Van Dyk
Steven, a mentally unstable twenty something, enters an elementary school with a semi-automatic rifle. After he orders the school receptionist, Cassandra, to have the building evacuated, he holds her hostage and instructs her to call 911. With Cassandra as his go-between, Steven tries to navigate the troubled waters he has entered.

The Eleven O’Clock
Director: Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
A psychiatrist earnestly tries to help his delusional patient, but his efforts are complicated by the fact that the patient believes himself to be the doctor. With each trying to out-analyze the other, their session spirals out of control.

My Nephew Emmett
Director: Kevin Wilson Jr.
In 1955, two white men invade the home of Mose Wright, an African-American preacher in Mississippi, to abduct his 14-year-old nephew, Emmett Till, who is visiting from Chicago. Emmett has been accused of whistling at a white woman, and Mose knows that his fate will be sealed if the men succeed in taking him.

The Silent Child
Director: Chris Overton and Rachel Senton
Libby, a profoundly deaf four-year-old, is the youngest child in a family who are all hearing. Unable to communicate but about to start school, Libby is assigned a social worker who teaches her sign language. Libby’s skeptical parents are reluctant to be involved, however, and pose a potential block to Libby’s education.

Watu Wote/All of Us
Director: Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
Jua, a Christian living in Kenya, boards a chartered bus to visit a relative and is uncomfortable being surrounded by Muslim passengers. The bus is stopped by the violent terrorist group Al-Shabaab, whose members demand that the Muslims identify the Christian passengers.