Documentary Shorts

Most often, I leave the short films posts to the very end of the Oscars season, often because I haven't yet seen them to be able to write about them.  This year, 4 out of 5 were so incredible, I wanted to write about them while Oscars Documentary Shorts programs are still in theaters.  If you can catch them, I highly recommend that you do.  The first two, my favorite two, are on Netflix so if you can't see any others, at least watch Audible and Lead Me Home.

AUDIBLE
Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean

It's a big year for deaf culture! What an incredible short following the winning football team of a deaf high school in Maryland.  Individual stories about the lives of the players including their universal connection to a friend who died by suicide years before.  The team's commitment to showing that they can play and win against any team, the coaches' commitment to their kids, and the stories of the kids and their families were so beautiful

LEAD ME HOME

Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

The homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle are featured in this powerful short that is almost surely the winner.  We follow the lives of unhoused people, the organizations committed to making a difference against a very uphill battle, and the busting of stereotypes of who and how people become homeless will surely inspire you to get involved.

THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL

Ben Proudfoot

This short film will have you cheering and totally charmed.  Shaquille O'Neal is one of the executive producers of this film about Lucy Harris, a kick ass women's basketball player who led her team to 3 consecutive national championships, her Olympic team to the silver medal, and even was the first woman the NBA invited to try out for one of their professional teams.  You won't have heard of her until now, but once you see the film, you'll not soon forget her.

THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR

Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei

This was the only of the documentary shorts that mostly confused me.  It's about a couple in Afghanistan who, to be sure, face an incredibly hard life with few choices.  This is the story of one couple and I believe it to be emblematic of what little life is left for Afghanis who have remained in country,

WHEN WE WERE BULLIES

Jay Rosenblatt

This short really resonated for me, as a former bullied child.  It is the quest of two classmates from the 5th grade trying to piece together a bullying incident in school where the whole class ganged up on the awkward kid, and trying to get their arms around why they did it and how they feel about it today.