Posted on January 20, 2022
We're getting closer and closer to March 27, 2022 and we can practically smell the 94th Academy Awards®. As if you needed any more reminding that CIFF is an Oscar-qualifying festival for short films, no less than FIVE of our CIFF 2021 shorts have been selected for this year's preliminary Oscar noms!
Take a look below to learn more about the outstanding films that stand to win Hollywood's biggest and most illustrious prize. We've also included some streaming links in case you want to give these films a watch before the big night!
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
CODED
JURY AWARD BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
CODED tells the story of legendary illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, a gay man who created early-20th century advertisements coded with LGBTQ imagery, quietly acknowledging a community forced to live in the closet. The documentary explores Leyendecker's legacy as a grandfather of modern advertising, discussing how today's out and proud LGBTQ2SIA+ advertisements are built upon a foundation laid by Leyendecker.
Beautifully animated and narrated by Neil Patrick Harris, CODED is a wonderfully revelatory biopic of lesser-known LGBTQ2SIA+ icons. Filmmaker Ryan White (ASSASSINS, CIFF 2020) is back at the festival with a much shorter but no less inventive take on documentary filmmaking.
THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL
She is arguably the greatest living women’s basketball player. She’s won three national trophies, played in the 1976 Olympics and was drafted to the NBA. But, have you ever heard of Lucy Harris? Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Ben Proudfoot showcases a legendary woman and pioneer of women's basketball who has been virtually erased from the history books.
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
STEP INTO THE RIVER
WINNER OF 2021 TELUS AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD: ANIMATED SHORT
Lu and Wei are two young girls living in a village nestled on the banks of a river. As the one-child policy has led some families to drown baby girls, they both have a special relationship with this river, which looks like a cradle of tragic stories.
BAD SEEDS
WINNER OF 2021 FESTIVAL JURY AWARD: BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
BAD SEEDS takes us to a bizarre world populated by carnivorous plants that can change shapes the way a chameleon changes colours.
The veteran director of CARFACE deftly connects growth with rivalry and evolution with competition. BAD SEEDS crafts an increasingly shocking duel that’s peppered with allusions to Westerns, the Cold War, board games and much more.
Live-Action Short Film
THE CRIMINALS
Late at night in a small Turkish town, a young couple tries to find a hotel room to spend the night together, but they are rejected from all hotels for not having a marriage certificate. Once they believe they’ve found a way around this, the situation gets out of hand.
A festival darling that has played at over 20 fests this year alone, including Sundance & SXSW, this film has been winning many awards along the way. THE CRIMINALS is an eerie thriller that builds a horror concept around restrictive societies.