10 best Oscar short films of the early 21st century

Many Oscar-winning works in both live-action and animation genres since the turn of the century have told remarkable stories around the world.

The Phone Call (2015)

The 20-minute film is about a shy girl who works at a call center. One day, she receives a call from a man who is depressed and suicidal after the death of his wife. The old man does not want her to call an ambulance because he is satisfied with his decision to commit suicide and just wants to have someone to keep him company before he disappears from this life.

British director Mat Kirby's Oscar-winning film is considered a concise story about loss and depression with a surprising ending. The Phone Call is also an excellent work that exploits the help desk environment, which is a fertile ground for fictional stories and documentaries such as Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (2013) or Call 911 (2013).

Helium (2013)

The story is about a boy who is seriously ill, living in a hospital, knowing that he will die and feels that heaven is very boring. He tells this to a hospital janitor who suggests that instead of going to heaven, he should go to Helium - a fantasy world that is more magical and more exciting than heaven. From there, the friendship between the boy and the janitor gradually develops as their imaginary world of Helium grows, while the boy gets closer to death.

The film is a touching and beautiful psychological work about friendship and dreams in a heartbreaking reality with a smart, sharp and fairytale ending. The film uses beautiful technological effects and won the Oscar for "Best Short Film" in 2014.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)

The work is set after a storm, a young man wanders into the library to find that the books have come to life, they can walk, talk, laugh, run and tell stories just like humans.

This French film directed by William Joyce was inspired by the works of world-famous filmmakers including Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, and the classic The Wizard of Oz. It also incorporates all the animation techniques, from hand-drawn to computer-generated. The director shares the sweet 15-minute visual story as a gift to all book lovers around the world.

La Maison en Petits Cubes (2009)

The House of Small Cubes is a Japanese film directed by Kunio Katō and is a profound meditation on life and happiness. It tells the story of an old widower living in a town that is increasingly flooded. One day, the water rises into his house and he accidentally drops his pipe. He has to dive underwater to find his favorite pipe, only to witness the beautiful memories he has lost.

In addition to the Oscar, the animated film also won a grand prize at the Annecy International Film Festival in France.

Toyland (2007)

Germany in 1942, one winter morning, a mother of the superior Aryan race went into her son's room to wake him up but could not find him. After searching the house, she went out and discovered that the Jewish family of her neighbor had been taken to a concentration camp. Her son was close friends with the neighbor's boy. At this moment, the mother remembered that she had lied to her son that the neighbor's family was not sent to a concentration camp but to Toyland. Now, the mother needed to find her son before he was also taken to a concentration camp with his friend.

Jochen Alexander Freydank's 13-minute short film is a haunting question about Germany's past racism, reminiscent of Michael Haneke's 2009 film The White Ribbon.

Le Mozart des pickpockets (2006)

The film, which won the César and Oscar at the same time from the French and American Academies, is a humorous, intelligent and heartwarming story about street pickpockets. The plot revolves around two Parisian vagrants who are hired by a gang of pickpockets to pretend to be police officers and come to their rescue in times of emergency. However, when the pickpockets are actually caught, the two vagrants unexpectedly accept a mute boy into the gang to carry out a new mission.

West Bank Story (2005)

This is a short musical comedy film by Israeli-American director Ari Sandel. In essence, the film is a parody of the classic musical West Side Story, revolving around the love story between two members of two long-time feuding families.

After its 2005 debut at the Sundance Film Festival, the film went through more than 150 film festivals worldwide, winning 30 awards before taking home the Oscar for Best Short Film. The film also helped director Ari Sandel break into the North American film industry. His first feature film, The Duff, was released this year, and is another humorous teenage love story.

Ryan (2004)

In 15 minutes, Ryan captures the entire life of Ryan Larkin, a talented and famous Canadian animator in the 1960s and 1970s, but in his old age he had to live in the slums due to his addiction to alcohol and drugs. Released in 2004, this animated and documentary work by filmmaker Chris Landreth not only won an Oscar but also brought home 60 awards from famous film festivals such as Cannes and Sundance.

The success of the short film brought back fame to director Ryan Larkin and he was invited to make a film. He was responsible for producing Spare Change before his death in 2007.

Two Soldiers (2003)

Adapted from a short story by Nobel Prize-winning writer William Faulkner, the work is set in America in 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor and many American soldiers had to join the army. The main character is a 10-year-old boy who, because of his attachment to his brother who had just enlisted, tries to catch a bus to his brother's army camp and suddenly becomes a tiny soldier.

The 39-minute film has been praised by critics as a brilliant blend of script, costumes, and props that realistically depicts pre-World War II America. The acting is excellent. The independent film by American director and cinematographer Aaron Schneider also features a haunting soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri.

Father and Daughter (2000)

Father and Daughter

The 8-minute film revolves around a little girl saying goodbye to her father before he leaves and never returns. As the beautiful landscape of the Netherlands changes through the four seasons, the little girl has now become a young woman, married, has children but still can't stop missing her father. The Dutch film by director Michael Dudok de Wit is considered a perfect small animated work, considered a model of animation. After winning an Oscar in 2000, the film was shown in many countries around the world. Father and Daughter is also the shortest film ever widely shown in theaters in Japan.

According to VnExpress