2018 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts - Program B

Every year, shortly before the Academy Awards, the short film nominations are released as four films. They are:

2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action
2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animated
2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary, Program A
2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary, Program B

My wife and I visited our local independent theater last night to catch Program B of the Documentary Shorts. The documentary shorts are divided into two films, Program A and Program B. Program A contains the first three nominations. Program B contains the final two nominations. There were no commended films this year. My analysis of which films should win the Oscar for best documentary short will follow at the end of this post.

Heroin(e)

Heroin(e) is a Netflix production that takes a look at the overdose crisis in Huntington, Virginia. The title of the film is an indication of the subject matter. The film examines three women who are intimately connected to the crisis, attempting to stem the rising tide of overdose in their community. Huntington experiences overdoses at ten times the national average. The film frames the issue from the perspective of a drug court judge, a deputy fire chief (later to be promoted to the first female chief in West Virginia history) and a woman who ministers to prostitutes with bag lunches. It is a film that connects to the subject matter and the human toll of the crisis. Run time: 39 minutes.

Knife Skills

This was sort of the feel good film of the documentary shorts. Knife Skills examines the grand opening of a French fine-dining restaurant in Cleveland. The restaurant has a social justice angle. Run by a convicted felon, the restaurant is also a culinary school designed to offer released prisoners a second chance. The program vetted 120 prisoners, with only 35 graduates at the end of the program. The skills taught to these convicted convicts offers them the opportunity to turn their lives around. The pride in learning the precise arts involved in running the restaurant is evident. This film succeeds because the subjects are engaging. The film picked several subjects who were endearing. Run time: 40 minutes.

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This year featured five films that all had a social justice feel. I know Hollywood can't help themselves. But this approach gives the genre a bad name. I love documentaries. But I tend to avoid the overly political or biased films. Michael Moore did a lot of damage to this genre through his biased and often misinformed political documentaries. Documentaries are intended to be factual explorations of a topic. They may have a perspective/message, but they should attempt to be balanced.

This year, the Academy picked one film that was horribly unbalanced. And it might just win because of the narrative that has become a popular mantra. But the other four films were all very good to me. They were balanced. They contained interesting subjects. The topics were diverse. Overall, aside from Traffic Stop, the documentary shorts were compelling this year. Here is my analysis.

Who should win: This one is tough. Knife Skills was lighter fare that was easy to watch. Heroin(e) explored a hot topic from an excellent perspective. Eddie and Edith was touching, but also tragic. But my pick for who should win is 405. The film told an interesting and compelling story.

Who will win: Traffic Stop will win. The one film that lacked balance and perspective (and fundamental fairness) will win. Hollywood is filled with wannabe activists. They will not be able to maintain objectivity and will use this as an opportunity to promote their own pet project. This was easily the worst of the five documentaries. It doesn't even belong in the same company as the others. But the message will outweigh objective measures of the genre.

Here is a trailer and a full movie: