News

Shuhei Morita's 'Possessions/Tsukumo' Short Shortlisted for Oscar Nomination

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday that it has selected 10 animated short films to advance to the voting process for the 86th Academy Awards. Originally, 56 pictures had qualified for the category. Shuhei Morita and Sunrise's "Possessions" ("Tsukumo") short is among the 10 to advance. The list will be narrowed down to three to five films for the final nominees. The academy will announce its official slate of nominees on January 16, 2014.

The other nine short films that advanced include:

• "Feral" by director Daniel Sousa
• "Get a Horse!" by Walt Disney Feature Animation and director Lauren MacMullan
• "Gloria Victoria" by director Theodore Ushevand the National Film Board of Canada
• "Hollow Land" by directors Uri Kranot and Michelle Kranot and Dansk Tegnefilm, Les Films de l'Arlequin, and the National Film Board of Canada
• "The Missing Scarf" by director Eoin Duffy and Belly Creative Inc.
• "Mr. Hublot" by director Laurent Witz, co-director Alexandre Espigares and Zeilt Productions
• "Requiem for Romance" by director Jonathan Ng and Kungfu Romance Productions Inc.
• "Room on the Broom" by directors Max Lang and Jan Lachauer and Magic Light Pictures
• "Subconscious Password" by director Chris Landreth and the National Film Board of Canada with the participation of Seneca College Animation Arts Centre and Copperheart Entertainment

"Possessions" is a part of Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Short Peace omnibus project that assembles "top creators at the leading edge of Japanese animation, exploring possible future avenues of expression." The omnibus film opened in Japan on July 20. The Annecy film festival described the 14-minute film as follows: "One night in the 18th Century, deep in the mountains, a man loses his way and comes across a small shrine. As he enters, the space transforms into a room of a different world."

Another work in the Short Peace project, Otomo's "Combustible" short, was shortlisted for the same award last year, but was not nominated.

The Academy announced on Tuesday that 19 films had been submitted for the Best Animated Feature Film category, including Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's The Wind Rises, Akiyuki Shinbo and SHAFT's Madoka Magica The Movie -Rebellion-, and Production I.G and Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo.

Kunio Katō's "La Maison en Petits Cubes" won in the Best Animated Short Film category at the 81st Annual Academy Awards in 2009.

Miyazaki's Spirited Away became the only Japanese animated feature to win an Oscar in 2002.

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 2, 2014.

Source: Variety