Jan 19, 2022

Oscar Shortlist Interview: How to Make a Story for a Short Film

This year, 15 animated shorts - not the usual ten - have been shortlisted for an Oscar.

As we wait to learn the nominees on February 8, we posed the same three questions to all of the shortlisted directors, to learn more about how they made their film and how they view the landscape for shorts today.

We are publishing their answers across three features, of which this is the first.

Our first question:

Joanna Quinn and Les Mills (Affairs of the Art):

Zacharias Kunuk (Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice):

Claude Cloutier (Bad Seeds):

Hugo Covarrubias (Bestia):

Anton Dyakov (Boxballet):

Sandra Desmazières (Flowing Home):

Hugo de Faucompret (Mum Is Pouring Rain):

Reza Riahi (The Musician):

Erick Oh (Namoo):

Simone Giampaolo (Only a Child):

Mikey Please (Robin Robin):

Bastien Dubois (Souvenir Souvenir):

Weijia Ma (Step Into the River):

Zach Parrish (Us Again):

Alberto Mielgo (The Windshield Wiper):

Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.