Canadian animators and directors dominate this year’s short film Oscar nominations.
Three of the five films nominated in the Animated Short Film category are from Canadians, including Pixar’s Bao, directed by Toronto-raised Domee Shi. Shi, 30, who studied animation at Sheridan College, is the first woman to direct a short film for Pixar.
Also nominated in the category is National Film Board-produced short Animal Behaviour from Vancouver-based husband and wife filmmaking team David Fine and Alison Snowden. They previously won an Oscar in 1994 for animated short Bob’s Birthday, and subsequently produced Bob and Margaret, the animated TV series based on the film. The couple was previously nominated for George and Rosemary in 1987. Snowden’s student short Second Class Mail also received a nod in 1986.
Weekends by Hamilton native Trevor Jimenez is also nominated in the category. Hand-animated, the film is set in 1980s Toronto and features landmarks like the CN Tower. Jimenez, another Sheridan College grad, has been working as a story artist at Pixar since 2012.
In the Live Action Short Film category, two Montreal teams are nominated — director Marianne Farley and producer Marie-Hélène Panisset for Marguerite; and director Jeremy Comte and producer Maria Gracia Turgeon for Fauve.
Other Canadians receiving nominations include Paul Massey for Sound Mixing on Bohemian Rhapsody, and set decorator Gordon Sim in the Production Design category for Mary Poppins Returns.
Watch the nominations here:
The 91st Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, Feb. 24, and air on CTV in Canada.
