Oscars Hidden Gold 2024: Best Documentary Short

My look at the under-the-radar Oscar nominees continues with the documentary shorts. I felt like this was the weakest set of shorts for me, but it also has more than one frontrunner (at least I hope so).

The ABCs of Book Banning tackles the issue of books that have been challenged or banned in schools by talking to the children who want to read them and the authors who write them. Passages from the books are also intertwined with charming animated sequences illustrating the content. Not only is this a significantly hot-button issue right now, with a lot of urgent aspects, but it’s the directorial debut of Shelia Nevins, a longtime documentary producer for HBO and MTV (the latter of which produced this film). This film had the makings of a surefire Oscar contender. Instead, it’s a massive disappointment. There’s really not a lot here, to be honest, and what is there isn’t as fully formed as I would’ve liked it to be. First of all, the documentary is one-sided to the point where there aren’t even archival perspectives on why these books have been challenged or banned. This limits the discussion in my opinion, and also gives an incomplete picture as to the reasons for some of the bannings. (The documentary doesn’t actually explain why the books were removed or challenged, and while it’s sometimes clear, other times it really isn’t.) Other times, the director’s thesis, that children should and want to see these perspectives, doesn’t go far enough. In one case, the author of what is said to be the most challenged book in schools, the graphic novel Gender Queer, discusses eir work, but no students are shown as adding to the discussion. There may have been outside reasons for this, but I think it’s worth noting. Now, the documentary does have some great moments, like when an African-American girl piercingly questions why she shouldn’t be allowed to read a book about Rosa Parks, an important part of her own history in this country. If that attitude reflected the entire short, I may have argued harder for this to win. There’s a lot going on here, but not enough in the short itself. I respect the idea of The ABCs of Book Banning and really wish I could say that Nevins will get an Oscar for her first directorial work (and to be honest, it’s likely that she will from what I’ve heard), but I can’t call this a contender. I wanted a lot more.

The Last Repair Shop is a major frontrunner for me, and my pick for the award (although another film came very close). It follows the employees of Los Angeles’ school district who provide free and freely repaired instruments for students, one of the last in America to do so. Not only are the perspectives of the children this impacts included, but also the adults who repair the instruments themselves, and why what they do means so much to them. It’s probably not for the reasons you think. Everyone interviewed has a different story, from the heartwarming, to the devastating, to the utterly stranger-than-fiction. This is a top-notch documentary short, using an intriguing topic to tackle several themes in one package. It was easily one of my favorites of the five, and I definitely invite you to experience it for yourself.

Island in Between was directed by filmmaker S. Leo Chang, who reflects on his relationship with Taiwan, the U.S., and China from the islands of Kinmen, a few kilometers away from Mainland China. I felt that the topic was certainly urgent, but overall, I don’t have too much to say about this one. I felt it was just okay.

Nai Nai & Wài Pó is directed by Sean Wang and is easily one of the best shorts in the running this year. (In addition, Wang’s new feature Dídi comes out later this Summer. I didn’t get to see it at Sundance, but I’ve heard very good things.) This simple yet effective short follows Wang’s two grandmothers, and does what I think documentaries do best: make engaging film stars out of ordinary people (the subjects even joke about becoming movie stars). Considering how downbeat and/or urgent a lot of the Oscar documentary shorts I’ve seen can be, it felt nice to see one that made me laugh as hard as I did watching this. Honestly, the two grandmas are so endearing that I’d even spend a feature film with them. Yet, it’s also an incredibly heartfelt look at growing old with dignity, and getting over past traumas. It’s a clearly personal work that absolutely deserves its nomination, and I definitely hope the Academy considers it a contender.

Finally, The Barber of Little Rock was an okay short, but the subject matter was definitely eye-opening. In Little Rock, Arkansas, African-American barber Arlo Washington has decided to challenge his hometown’s wealth inequality and structural racism by having his community take their financial stability into their own hands. In addition to providing career paths with his barber college, he has founded People’s Trust, a non-profit community bank that gives loans to underserved residents. Because Little Rock’s African-American community mistrusts financial institutions that have historically excluded them, People’s Trust creates a path for economic justice that I found incredibly inspiring. While I felt the short as a whole could’ve been more engaging, I am glad that the nomination raised some awareness about this topic. I wouldn’t consider it a contender, but I do think you should check this film out.

I’m really hoping either The Last Repair Shop or Nai Nai & Wài Pó win, but don’t be surprised if The ABCs of Book Banning takes it. I’ve seen a lot of people predict that one. Stay tuned for more of my coverage of the Oscars.