The Phone Call

  • Oscar Nominated Short Films 2015 In Theaters January 30

    Boogaloo and GrahamBoogaloo and Graham

    ShortsHD and Magnolia Pictures will release THE OSCAR® NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2015 in theaters across the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America on Friday January 30, 2015. 

    ShortsHD™, the world’s only Short Movie Channel in high definition, working with Magnolia Pictures will celebrate its 10th anniversary of its Oscar shorts release by opening “THE OSCAR® NOMINATED SHORT FILMS” in a record 450+ theaters across the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America on Friday January 30, 2015. “THE OSCAR® NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2015” will showcase the Live Action, Animation and Documentary short film nominees as three separate theatrical events. This is the only opportunity for audiences to watch the nominated short films prior to the 87th Academy Awards® ceremony on Sunday, February 22, 2015.

    This year’s release includes 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, Hebrew

    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: Tibetan

    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
    Directors: Patrick Osborne and 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

    DOCUMENTARY SHORT NOMINEES

    Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
    Directors: Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
    Synopsis: Each month, the Veterans Crisis Line receives over 22,000 calls from military veterans, who account for 20% of all suicides in the U.S. each year.
    Country of origin: US
    TRT: 41
    Language: English 

    Joanna
    Director: Aneta Kopacz
    Synopsis: As she faces a terminal illness, the mother of a young son writes a blog in which she tries to leave a record of what she hopes to teach him.
    Country of origin: Poland
    TRT: 45
    Language: Polish

    Our Curse
    Directors: Tomasz Śliwiński and Maciej Ślesicki
    Synopsis: 
    A mother and father face the difficulties of caring for a baby who has been born with a life-threatening congenital breathing disorder known as Ondine’s curse.
    Country of origin: Poland
    TRT: 27
    Language: Polish

    The Reaper (La Parka)
    Director: Gabriel Serra Arguello
    Synopsis: For the past 25 years, Efrain has worked in a slaughterhouse, where he has developed an intimate relationship with both death and what one must sometimes do to live.
    Country of origin: Mexico
    TRT: 29
    Language: Spanish

    White Earth
    Director:  J. Christian Jensen
    Synopsis: Three children and an immigrant mother face a long and difficult winter in North Dakota, which has attracted many people seeking work during an oil boom.
    Country of origin: US
    TRT: 20
    Language: English

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  • Portland Intl Film Fest Reveals Dates and Opening Night Film

    WILD TALESWILD TALES 

    The 38th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF 38) begins on Thursday, February 5th and will run through the 21st; and opens with Argentinean director Damián Szofrón’s Oscar-nominated film WILD TALES.

    Produced by Pedro Almodóvar, WILD TALES is an anthology of six blackly-comic short stories sharing a common theme of frustration, bestial revenge, and the past coming back to haunt in an escalating fashion. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUnXv6R2HI8

    In addition to opening with Damián Szofrón’s WILD TALES, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Festival will host Abderrahmane Sissako’s TIMBUKTU, also nominated in that category. As in past years, the Festival features an abundance of short films. This year’s lineup boasts eight discrete short film programs, including one devoted entirely to films made in Oregon, another built entirely of Spanish-produced content, and an animated shorts program curated by LAIKA’s Mark Shapiro. Among the multitude of shorts on offer, the festival is proud to host Daisy Jacobs’ THE BIGGER PICTURE, nominated for the Short Film – Animated Academy Award, and Matt Kirby’s THE PHONE CALL, nominated in the Short Film – Live Action category. 

    This year’s Festival includes the return of the popular PIFF After Dark program, showcasing late night movies like Adam MacDonald’s BACKCOUNTRY, Mark Hartley’s (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS, and Hitoshi Matsumoto’s (BIG MAN JAPAN) R100 for adventurous festival attendees. 

    Other highlights of PIFF 38 include screenings of Lisandro Alonso’s (LOS MUERTOS) JAUJA, Joshua Oppenheimer’s (THE ACT OF KILLING) THE LOOK OF SILENCE, Pedro Costa’s (COLOSSAL YOUTH) HORSE MONEY, Gabe Polsky’s (THE MOTEL LIFE) , Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s (EAGLE VS. SHARK) WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, Najwa Najjar’s (POMEGRANATES AND MYRRH) EYES OF A THIEF, Albert Maysles’ (GIMME SHELTER) IRIS, Olivier Assayas’ (CARLOS) CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA, Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker’s I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY, Kornél Mundruczó WHITE GOD, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s THE TRIBE, Chuck Workman’s (EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL) MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES, Sergei Loznitsa’s (MY JOY) MAIDAN, Maria Gamboa’s MATEO, Yȏji Yamada’s (THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI) THE LITTLE HOUSE and Christian Petzold’s (JERICHOW) PHOENIX.

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