Oscar short films at Harbor Theater

Wed, 02/21/2018 - 12:00pm

Harbor Theater will be showing 2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films next week before the Academy Awards Ceremony on March 4.

Documentaries, split into two sections, will be shown on Thursday, March 1 at 2 p.m. and Friday, March 2 at 2 p.m.

Live Action Short Films will be shown Thursday, March 1, 7 p.m.

This is your chance to see the films and predict the winners. See if you match the experts on Sunday night at the Oscars. All tickets for each of the three shows are $6 (no member discounts).

Documentary films, Part A, Rated R (102 minutes), will be shown on Thursday, March 1, 2 p.m.:

“Edith + Eddie”  - USA  (29 minutes):  Director Laura Checkoway shines a light on Edith and Eddie, America's oldest interracial newlyweds at age 95 and 96. Having found each other, and happiness, as nonagenarians, they are disrupted by a family feud that threatens to tear them apart.

“Traffic Stop” -  USA  (31 minutes): Director Kate Davis tells the story of Breaion King, a 26-year-old African-American schoolteacher from Austin, TX who was stopped for a routine traffic violation that escalates into a harrowing arrest. En route to jail in a squad car she engages in a revealing conversation with another officer about race and law enforcement in America.

“Heaven Is A Traffic Jam on the 405” - USA  (40 minutes): Director and Producer Frank Stiefel draws a portrait of a brilliant 56-year-old artist who is represented by one of Los Angeles’ top galleries. Her body of raw, emotional work reveals a lifetime of depression and mental disorder. Through an examination of Mindy Alper’s work, interviews, reenactments and the building of an huge papiermache bust of her beloved psychiatrist, we learn how she has emerged from a life of darkness and isolation to a life that includes love, trust and support.

Documentary films, Part B, Rated R, 90-minutes, will be shown on Friday, March 2, 2 p.m.:

“Knife Skills” -  USA (40 minutes): What does it take to build a world-class French restaurant? What if the staff is almost entirely men and women just out of prison? What if most have never cooked or served before, and have barely two months to learn their trade? Veteran filmmaker and journalist Thomas Lennon (one Academy Award, four nominations) follows the hectic launch of Edwin’s Restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Heroin(e)” -  USA (39 minutes):  Once a bustling industrial town, Huntington, West Virginia has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average. But within this distressed landscape, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Hollow) highlights three women working to change the town’s narrative and break the devastating cycle of drug abuse one person at a time. Fire Chief Jan Rader, Judge Patricia Keller and Necia Freeman of Brown Bag Ministry use compassion to hold the town together.

Live action films, rated R, 99 minutes,  will be shown on Thursday, March 1, 7 p.m.:

“DeKalb Elementary” -  USA (20 minutes): Filmmaker Reed Van Dyk tells a story Inspired by a 911 call placed during a school shooting incident in Atlanta, Georgia. A stern but empathetic administrator avoids the worst. Timely topic.

“My Nephew Emmett” - USA (20 minutes): Director Kevin Wilson, Jr., studying in NYU’s Graduate Film program, tells the true story of a 1955 incident in Mississippi when a preacher tries to protect his 14-year-old nephew, Emmett Till, from two racist killers out for blood.

“The Eleven O’Clock” - Australia (13 minutes): Noted Australian director Derin Seale made this slightly mad comedy about a delusional patient of a psychiatrist who believes he is actually the psychiatrist. As they each attempt to treat each other the session gets out of control.

“The Silent Child” - UK (20 minutes): Libby, born into a middle-class family and living in a world of silence, is profoundly changed by a caring social worker who teaches her the gift of communication. But what of the family who are too busy to notice?

“Watu Wote/All Of US” - Germany and Kenya (23 minutes): For almost a decade Kenya has been targeted by terrorist attacks of the Al-Shabaab. An atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust between Muslims and Christians has developed. In December 2015, Muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail. Director Katja Benrath’s first film based on a true story.