With the Academy Awards a little more than two weeks away, movie fans are busy trying to watch all of the blockbusters nominated for Best Picture. Yet those flying somewhat under the radar are the short films, including those nominated in the Animated Short and Live Action Short categories. Think Magic Candles, Yuck!, A Lien or I’m Not a Robot, for starters.
Chip Brooks, owner of Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights, conceived the idea of hosting a film festival to make it easier to see these Oscar-nominated shorts. Consequently, in partnership with the Arlington Heights Arts Commission, Hey Nonny will be showing the 10 films nominated as Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at a special showing on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Hosting a film festival is a first for Brooks and Hey Nonny. Typically, music lovers flock to its concerts, performed in its “listening room” type studio. Yet, converting the intimate space into a venue for watching films, makes sense, Brooks reasons.
Hey Nonny owner, Chip Brooks
“We are all about art and a variety of genres in music so why not extend our brand to a mini-film festival,” Brooks says. “We excited to be partnering with the Arts Commission to bring these unique film projects to our venue. It will be fun to stretch our wings a bit and cross over into film for a day.”
There are five films in each category and patrons can enjoy all 10 for $25. The Animated Shorts will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the Live Action nominees will be shown from 1:10 to 3 p.m, all on Feb. 22. Patrons can also enjoy a lunch buffet for another $30. Attendance is limited to 100. Tickets are available, here.
“The longest film in either category is 28 minutes,” Brooks adds. “Some are as short as 13 minutes, and they come from nine different countries. Serious film enthusiasts will enjoy the opportunity to be immersed in this broad display of filmmaking.”
Typically, Hey Nonny’s intimate studio hosts concerts.
Brooks notes that many of the films were produced in native languages so any film with foreign language dialogue will have subtitles.
“Some of the nominees for Best Picture run two-and-a-half or three plus hours,” Brooks says. “We can show all 10 of the short films in about that length of time. If you’re an Oscar viewer who usually grabs another plate of food while these awards are presented, why not make the time to view them and have a bit more of a rooting interest in the winner?”
The nominated films are:
Animated Shorts
Beautiful Men – Nicolas Keppens, 18 min., Belgium/France/Netherlands (in Flemish, Dutch, Turkish, and English)
In the Shadow of the Cypress – Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, 20 min., Iran (no dialogue)
Magic Candies – Daisuke Nishio, 21 min., Japan (in Japanese)
Wander to Wonder – Nina Gantz, 14 min., Netherlands/Belgium/France/UK (in English)
Yuck! – Loïc Espuche, 13 min., France (in French)
Live Action Shorts
A Lien – Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz, 15 min., USA (in English)
Anuja – Adam J. Graves, 22 min., USA (in Hindi)
I’m Not a Robot – Victoria Warmerdam, 22 min., Belgium/Netherlands (in Dutch)
The Last Ranger – Cindy Lee, 28 min., South Africa (in Xhosa)
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent – Nebojsa Slijepcevic, 13 min., Croatia (in Croatian)
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