**Spoiler Alert**
Parveneh--Directors: Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger/Switzerland
Parveneh is a story about a teenage Afghan girl living illegally in Switzerland whose efforts to send money home leads her down a path that is both revelatory and sometimes troubling. It's amazing how much we learn about her life in such a brief time. We see her being exploited by an unconscionable employer, but her life among fellow, self-exiled Middle-Easterners is hardly better.
When she enlists the help of a teenage Swiss girl to send money to her family in Afghanistan, the process becomes a cultural, eye-opening experience.
I liked the film but found the ending a little too neat. Nisha Kashani's performance as Parveneh is touching and her pretty, youthful face lends much to her character's innocence.
Given the recent tragedy in France with the murder of Charlie Hebdo satirists by Muslim extremists, it is a relief to see a more optimistic story about a Muslim and European finding harmonious, common cause rather than conflict. It is also interesting to note the two characters in the film are both female, which adds a sociopolitical dimension to the story.
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)--Directors: Hu Wei and Julien Féret/France and China
What directors Hu Wei and Julien Feret manage to convey with a static camera is astonishing. A film that is touching, subtly humorous and ultimately sobering, I must say Butter Lamp was my favorite of the nominees.
We see Tibetans standing before scenic, photo-backdrops as they wait to be captured in portraits. The photographer moves about, in and out of the frame as he tries to orchestrate the shots. We don't realize at first that the backdrop of the Forbidden City in Beijing, replete with a picture of Chairman Mao, is actually artificial until another backdrop is unraveled in its place.
Along with backdrop changes are the subjects themselves; Tibetan families whose faces tell stories of their own.
The film has its humorous moments. When the photographer scrolls through a series of backdrops for an elderly Tibetan woman, an exotic beach scene unfolds, replete with palm trees. When a backdrop for Potala Palace in Lhasa is lowered in the background, the woman crouches before it in an act of worship and refuses to budge until the photographer and his assistant change the scenery.
And what reality lies behind the photographer's illusions? A great and sobering truth that speaks volumes about Tibet's past and maybe an unfortunate future.
I found Butter Lamp also made a powerful sociopolitical statement.
It also told its story in a very clever way. The photographer's camera is also the filmmaker's camera and what he sees, we see as well. Though the viewer sees beyond the literal subject matter to grasp the metaphors, the photographer most likely doesn't.
The Phone Call--Directors: Mat Kirkby and James Lucas/UK
A lonely woman who mans a crisis hotline phone, fields a call from a man in emotional anguish. As she executes call-center phone protocol, she learns he suffers from the loss of his wife; his dear companion for many years. In trying to ascertain whether he has actually taken steps to end his life, she learns something about his relationship with his wife. And in doing so, she herself is moved by his emotional plight; not only as a call-center volunteer but in a more personal way.
The ever-excellent Sally Hawkins plays the crisis center volunteer while Jim Broadbent lent his voice and talents as the man on the phone. Hawkins is quite terrific, as her performance rests entirely on her ability to to react to nothing more than a voice on the other end of the phone, which she accomplishes with wonderful artistry.
I thought the short was quite powerful until the final few minutes, when it veers into something more conventional. In spite of, the film manages to be riveting.
Aya--Directors: Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis/Israel and France
Aya has the longest running time of the Oscar nominated shorts at nearly 40 minutes and in that self-allotted time, directors Binnun and Brezis' give us a thought-provoking piece; one that relies heavily on performances to propel the story.
We see a group of people anxiously awaiting a flight arrival in an Israeli airport. A man holding a sign asks another if he might hold his until he returns. Burdened with the extra sign, he finds he is unable to wait and asks a young woman if she might hold the sign until the man returns. She agrees and when the man whose name is written on the sign appears, she neglects to inform him (for reasons that become somewhat clear later) she isn't his driver.
Instead, she shares a sandwich with him then does the unexpected by leaving the airport with him. En route to their destination, the two engage in a conversation that will make an emotional impact on both.
The story raises many questions about its odd female protagonist and her perplexing, psychological motivations.
Sarah Adler is terrific as the title character while Ulrich Thomsen, veteran of Danish cinema, plays her Jerusalem-bound companion. Most of the film's running time is occupied by the two actors in the car, but they, like Sally Hawkins in The Phone Call are challenged by the spatial limitations of their environment, which they overcome with heartfelt performances.
Who is this woman who would spontaneously abandon her own airport connection to drive a stranger to Jerusalem? The film gives us some clue, which makes for an engaging adventure.
Boogaloo and Graham--Directors: Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney/UK
Set in Northern Ireland in the 1970s', directors Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney's whimsical film tells the story of two young boys whose erratically-employed father presents them with two baby chicks. The boys take an immediate shine to the birds, much to the dismay of their mother. The two even bestow the offbeat names Boogaloo and Graham on their pets.
As the chicks become chickens, their love for their pets runs contrary to their mother's estimation of the fowl, who would like nothing more than to see the birds resting on the dinner table. The boys and their father's struggle to deny them that grisly fate makes for an amusing and charming story but the filmmakers also manage to give the story a political context, as British soldiers patrol the Irish streets.
The film is enjoyable but a little too short and slight. It is the comic relief in an otherwise mostly serious group of nominees.
If I were to prognosticate, I'd say Aya will be the frontrunner for the Oscar. It is certainly deserving, but again, my favorite is the Butter Lamp.
It's always a good idea to keep one's eye on the directorial talent, we may see them graduate to feature films in the near future. Given their talents for rich storytelling and accomplished directing, it may be only a matter of time.
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