ShortStick

In last years predictions we had a strong showing in animated short, correctly predicting 10 out of 15, including all five eventual nominees. This year we are back with our shortlist predictions for the 98th Academy Awards and are hoping to keep that momentum going. After 88 short films qualified last year, a deep and incredible batch of 113 qualified this year (quite a jump). Below are our 15 we have selected to most likely make the shortlist as well as 10 other major conten

This past month Robin had a blast attending the 2025 London Film Festival and is reporting back with several of his favourite shorts he saw at the fest. In Part 2 below he reviews The Big Bad Wolf, Forgotten Routes and Another Other. The Big Bad Wolf, dir. Leo Wright Stop motion filmmaker Leo Wright, through the world famous Aardman Animation Studios, brings us the BAFTA qualifying The Big Bad Wolf . The film cleverly riffs on what is perhaps the most famous kids fairy tale o

This past month Robin had a blast attending the 2025 London Film Festival and is reporting back with several of his favourite shorts he saw at the fest. In Part 1 below he reviews Elephant Families, Cardboard, End of Play and happiness. Elephant Families, dir. Elena Escalante The former part of the title stems from the south London area of Elephant and Castle, a district which houses a community of people with roots from a mix of Latin American cultures who have come together

The Fisherman , dir. Calvin Brown From the opening moments of The Fisherman , a portentous bible quote from the book of Job in an old-timey font over a screen of ominous static, it is clear that this is not the usual animated film: no cutesy anthropomorphic animals will be learning the power of friendship here. The Rankin and Bass-styled characters belie the dramatic hardships and evangelical yearning that is about to overcome this animated world as a devout fisherman has his

As the end of the year and the Oscars draw near, we have a few more festivals we are honoured to be covering, including the always stellar AFI FEST! The programmers have curated several thoughtful blocks spanning animation, narrative and documentary containing some of the best short films of the year, including Oscar hopefuls previously covered here in Snow Bear, The Singers and Shanti Rides Shotgun as well as other favourites of ours like Nervous Energy and Pavilhão. Robin,

Without Perfection , dir. Vega Moltke-Leth Historically, women have suffered immensely from societal pressure upon them. Each century represented a different degree of expectations, ranging from the necessity of raising children as their sole function to the pursuit of immaculate visual beauty as a means of aesthetic appeal. Therefore, the late-stage capitalism increased the pressure and the beauty patterns, influenced by social media and the urging of advertisement. The goal