Short films backed by Canadian talent among Oscar nominees

Two short films backed by Canadian talent are among this year’s Oscar nominees.

Brotherhood, co-produced by Quebec’s Maria Gracia Turgeon and directed by Montreal-based filmmaker Meryam Joobeur, is nominated in the Live Action Short category, while Canadian director Sami Khan earned a nomination for St. Louis Superman in Documentary (Short Subject).

Brotherhood is a Tunisian-Canadian-Qatar-Swedish co-production that explores tensions within a Tunisian family when a man returns home with a Syrian wife, in full niqab, igniting his father’s suspicions that he’s been fighting for the Islamic State (IS). Street cast in northern Tunisia, Montreal cinematographer Vincent Gonneville and production designer Valérie Jeanne Mathieu also have credits on the film.

This is Turgeon’s second Oscar nomination. She also received a nod in the Best Live Action Short category last year for Fauve, alongside Jeremy Comte. The short won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama.

St. Louis Superman is a 30-minute documentary on activist and former Missouri Rep. Bruce Franks, Jr., a former battle rapper with face tattoos, who became politically active following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Mississippi. Khan, who was born and raised in Sarnia, ON, made the film with his Columbia University film school classmate Smriti Mundhra.

Overall, Netflix had the best showing in this year’s Oscar nomination race with 24, up from 15 last year. Disney was a close second with 23 nominations, while Sony Pictures earned 20 nominations.

Nominations by film were led by Joker with 11 nods, followed by The Irishman, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, and 1917, with 10 nominations apiece.

Find the full list of nominations here.


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Connie Thiessen
Connie Thiessenhttps://broadcastdialogue.com
Connie has worked coast-to-coast as a reporter, editor, anchor and host at CKNW and News 1130 in Vancouver, News 95.7 and CBC in Halifax, and CFCW Edmonton, among other stations. With a passion for music, film and community service, she led News 95.7 to a 2013 Atlantic Journalism Award and regional RTDNA award for Best Radio Newscast. More recently, she was nominated for Music Journalist of the Year at Canadian Music Week 2019. To report a typo or error please email - corrections@broadcastdialogue.com

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