2018 Oscar Contenders: Best Documentary (Short Subject)

It’s Oscars season! Join INFORUM as we screen three of the films vying for a 2018 Oscar nomination for best documentary (short subject) from The New York Times’ Op-Docs. The screenings will be followed by a panel featuring several of the filmmakers, moderated by a New York Times culture reporter. We will then take questions. See below for links to all three films. (We recommend watching them wall projectors with new friends.) Come ready to nurture your inner film critic. We’ll provide the popcorn and candy.

In "116 Cameras," filmmaker Davina Pardo introduces us to a Holocaust survivor who takes part in an innovative new attempt to preserve survivors’ stories in holographic form for future generations.

In "Alone," filmmaker Garrett Bradley explores the dilemma of a single mother deciding whether or not to marry her jailed boyfriend.

In "Ten Meter Tower," by filmmakers Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson, fear of jumping off a 10-meter diving tower is pitted against the personal loss that would arise if you didn't dare. What do we look like when we hesitate and when we make a decision? What does it look like when we overcome our fears?

Kathleen Lingo is commissioning editor of Opinion Video and executive producer of Op-Docs. Since joining Op-Docs in 2013, the series has published over 200 short films and virtual reality and interactive documentaries, two of which were nominated for Oscars (“4.1 Miles” in 2017 and “Our Curse” in 2015). Op-Docs films have also received seven Emmy nominations, earned two Emmys (“A Short History of the Highrise” in 2014 and “Notes on Blindness” in 2015) and won two Peabodys (“Highrise” in 2014 and “Notes on Blindness” in 2015). She began her career in documentary film working at Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. She went on to work on nonfiction projects such as “The IFC Media Project”; the HBO documentary El Espiritu de la Salsa, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010; and WNYC’s “The Takeaway."
 
Filmmakers Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck collaborate under the banner of Plattform Produktion in Gothenburg, Sweden. Together, Van Aertryck and Danielson direct and produce both feature-length documentaries and short films. Their short films have premiered in the official competitions of Berlin, Cannes, Sundance and Toronto, earning several awards. Their recent short film, “Ten Meter Tower,” has been seen by millions through The New York Times' website. Their films aim to have a critical and humorous approach and are distinguished by their minimalistic style as well as theme-based rather than plot-driven narratives.
 
Davina Pardo is documentary director and producer based in New York City. She recently produced Very Semi-Serious, an HBO documentary about New Yorker cartoonists, which received a 2015 Emmy for outstanding arts and culture programming. Her award-winning documentary shorts include “Minka” and “Birdlings Two,” and her work has been supported by the Tribeca Film Institute, IFP's documentary lab and Independent Film Week, and the Sundance Institute. Pardo previously worked as David Cronenberg’s assistant and associate produced the Academy Award-winning documentary Freeheld. 

Garrett Bradley (b. 1986) was born and raised in New York City. She received an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in film and a bachelor’s from Smith College in philosophy. Bradley’s first professional work began in high school as a concert photographer, during which her work was published in Rolling Stone, Vibe and The New Yorker. Bradley’s debut feature-length film, Below Dreams, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014. The film followed the lives of three people making their way back to New Orleans in search of a better life. That same year, Bradley’s follow-up feature, Cover Me, was conceived for the international arts biennial Prospect.3 and was curated by artistic director Franklin Sirmans. Bradley received the Prospect.3/Artadia artist award and went on to premiere Cover Me at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. A recipient of 2017 Sundance/Cinereach art of nonfiction fellowship, Bradley has been honored with fellowships from Art Matters, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and the Warhol Foundation. Bradley has received numerous prizes—most recently the 2017 Sundance jury prize for the short film Alone, released in February 2017 with The New York Times’ Op-Docs. Bradley’s short films and feature-length projects have exhibited at dozens of museums and festivals and on various platforms.

Notes

 In association with The New York Times