Sidewalk Film Center is screening every Oscar-nominated short before the award show on Feb. 9

The only time you should be in the dark when it comes to The Oscars is if you’re watching one of the nominated shorts at the Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema. Lucky for you, the center is screening every short film this week leading up to The Academy Awards.

Give me the details

The screenings include all three film categories offered – Animated, Live Action, and Documentary. You can purchase tickets for all four categories for $8 each.

• Live Action: Tuesday, February 4 at 7PM
• Animation: Wednesday, February 5 at 7PM
• Documentary: Part 1 Monday, February 3 at 2:30PM, 4:30PM and 7PM | Thursday, February 6 at 4:30PM and 7PM
• Documentary: Part 2 Friday, February 7 at 4:30PM and 7PM
• Award Show (FREE): Sunday, February 9 at 6PM

About the shorts

First of all, you usually don’t get a chance to see these on the big screen. Sure, you could screen them on your iPad mini, but that’s kind of an insult to the beautiful cinematography and dedicated work that takes place in each film.

Second, what better way to brag to your friends that you saw the shorts in a “cinema?” Sounds cool to me.

Live Action

• A Sister – Delphine Girard, Belgium, 16 min. A mysterious phone call to a late-night operator soon turns into a chase to save a woman from a dangerous situation.
• Brotherhood – Meryan Joobeur, Tunisia, 25 min. The tension between members of a Tunisian family arises after a man who’s been away for years brings home his Syrian wife.
• The Neighbors’ Window – Marshall Curry, USA, 20 min. When a mother grows bored with her life, she sets her sights on two…interesting…. young neighbors who move in across the street. Bonus? It’s inspired by a true story.
• Saria – Bryan Buckley, USA, 23 min. Follow the story of two inseparable orphaned sisters at the Virgen de La Asuncion Safe Home in Guatemala. Will they make a safe escape to America?
• Nefta Football Club – Yves Piat, Tunisia/France, 17 min. Two children discover a donkey with bags of drugs on its back and bring it home with them. I’ll leave it at that.

Animated

• Hair Love – Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Tolive, 7 min. When mom is unavailable, Stephen, an African-American dad, helps his daughter Zuri with her hair before a big event. The story aims to promote hair love amongst young men and women of color.
• Dcera (Daughter) – Daria Kashcheeva, Czech Republic, 15 min. A daughter. Her father. Miscommunication and an injured bird.
• Sister – Siqi Song, China/USA, 8 min. An older brother details his relationship with his annoying little sister.
• Memorable – Bruno Collet, France, 12 min. A painter and his wife become overwhelmed when strange events plague the painter’s life.
• Kitbull – Rosana Sullivan, USA, 9 min. Unlikely friendships between animals are always a favorite of mine. Find out what happens when a stray kitten and a pitbull save each other.

You can also catch these additional highly commended shorts:

• Henrietta Bulkowski – USA, 16 min. (featuring the voices of Chris Cooper and Ann Dowd!) A woman realizes the thing she hates most about herself might be the best thing to ever happen to her.
• The Bird and the Whale – Ireland, 6 min. When a whale loses his voice, he meets a friend that helps him find it.
• Hors Piste – France, 5 min. If you ever get stranded on a ski trip, you better hope the two rescuers in this film aren’t the one to save you.
• Maestro – France, 2 min. You will laugh out loud, that’s all I’m going to say.

Documentary

• Life Overtakes Me – John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson, Sweden/USA, 39 min. Refugee children in Sweden, under the pressures of deportation, are overcome with Resignation Syndrome.
• Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You’re a Girl) – Carol Dysinger, UK, 39 min. Follow along as young Afghan girls learn how to skateboard, in Kabul. It gives them the confidence to face the challenges that lie ahead.
• In the Absence – Yi Seung-Jun, South Korea, 28 min. When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities.
• Walk Run Cha-Cha – Laura Nix, USA, 21 min. From war to dance, discover the story of Paul and Millie Cao.
• St. Louis Superman – Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan, USA, 28 min. Learn the story of Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist and battle rapper who works to pass a bill critical for his community.

Now that you have a summary, go plan out which ones you want to see. Or, just catch ’em all before the Academy Awards this Sunday, Feb.9!

Which short are you rooting for to win? Let us know on social @bhamnow!