Saturday, February 18, 2017

Oscar's Short Docs Program


If you want only laughs and happy endings, don't see this year's Oscar Short Docs program. This year's selections include three films about people in or leaving Syria, a film about people dying, and one about a Holocaust survivor's violin. To gauge how intense these films are, the one about the Holocaust survivor and his violin was the most upbeat one.

I wanted to scream obscenities about the Oval Office trash fire during most of the films. But the one that really got me going was 4.1 Miles, about the Greek coast guard that fishes dead people out of the ocean and saves many lives every single day, several times a day. The film laid bare the absurdity of our arbitrary national borders. We could simply provide transportation to people fleeing war-torn lands but instead we let them risk their lives in a 4.1 mile stretch of salt water because of the border between Turkey & Greece. This one is my favorite for winning this years short documentary Oscar.

Four of the short films are streaming online. The White Helmets, about the people who rescue fellow Syrians after bombings from their government or Russia, is on Netflix, as is the film Extremis, which follows doctors & families caring for patients near death. You can see 4.1 Miles on the New York Times website, about the coast guard on the Island of Lesbos in Greece rescuing people fleeing war in Syria. The New Yorker is hosting Joe's Violin.

To see Watani: My Homeland, which follows one Syrian family over three years, check out a local showing near you.

If you want to see all five films together, find a showing here.

Joe's Violin and 4.1 Miles were directed by women.