Widening its reach ahead of the Academy Awards on Sunday night, The Short Movie Channel is releasing "The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2015" across an array of cable, satellite and on-demand platforms.
The program, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Oscar short releases in theaters in the U.S. Latin Ameriica and Europe, will showcase the live-action and animation film nominees, ahead of the 87th Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 22, 2015 on ABC, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.
Through a deal with In Demand, Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Bright House, RCN, Charter, Metrocast, and Mid Continent will offer the shorts, as will DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, iTunes, Amazon and Vimeo. ShortsHD, the first high-definition channel dedicated to short movies, has regular carriage on DirecTV (channel 573), AT&T U-Verse (1789), US Sonet (292), CenturyLink prism (1789) and Frontier Communications (1789).
"The short film nominees this year come from some of the most diverse backgrounds of any similar group of Academy nominees, which is reflected in the richness and diversity of their storytelling,” said ShortsHD CEO Carter Pilcher. “We are proud to bring them to the cable systems, VOD, EST and the all of the leading digital platforms for audiences everywhere.”
This year’s Oscar-nominated shorts originate from Poland, UK, US, France, China, Switzerland, Canada, Netherlands and Mexico.
Releases include the following nominated short films:
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM NOMINEES
Aya
Directors: Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Synopsis: A young woman waiting at an airport has an unexpected encounter with an arriving passenger.
Countries of origin: France, Israel
TRT: 39:50
Language: English
Boogaloo and Graham
Directors: Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
Synopsis: Jamesy and Malachy are presented with two baby chicks to raise by their soft-hearted father.
Country of origin: UK
TRT: 14:00
Language: English
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Directors: Hu Wei and Julien Féret
Synopsis: A photographer and his assistant photograph the inhabitants of a remote Tibetan village.
Countries of origin: France, China
TRT: 15:54
Language: Chinese
Parvaneh
Directors: Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
Synopsis: An Afghan teenager living in a refugee center in Switzerland encounters difficulties wiring money to her family and asks a young Swiss woman for help.
Country of origin: Switzerland
TRT: 24:26
Language: German
The Phone Call
Directors: Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
Synopsis: A woman working for a crisis center phone line receives a call from a suicidal older man.
Country of origin: UK
TRT: 20:56
Language: English
ANIMATED SHORT FILM NOMINEES
The Bigger Picture
Directors: Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
Synopsis: Tensions arise between two brothers as their elderly mother requires more care.
Country of origin: UK
TRT: 7:27
Language: English
The Dam Keeper
Directors: Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
Synopsis: A lonely little pig in charge of maintaining the town dam is cruelly bullied by his classmates.
Country of origin: US
TRT: 18:08
Language: English
Feast
Director: Patrick Osborne
Producer: Kristina Reed
Synopsis: The story of the relationship between a young man and the stray puppy he takes in is told through the food the dog receives.
Country of origin: US
TRT: 7:00
Language: English
Me and My Moulton
Director: Torill Kove
Synopsis: Three sisters growing up in an unconventional Norwegian family ask their parents for a bicycle.
Country of origin: Canada
TRT: 13:08
Language: English
A Single Life
Director: Joris Oprins
Synopsis: A mysterious vinyl single gives a young woman the power to move back and forth through the years of her life.
Country of origin: Netherlands
TRT: 2:18
Language: English
