For our fourth Rundown article, it’s time to look at the Live Action Short Film category. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Live Action Short Film as well as general commentary about the race. Tomorrow, we’ll cover the documentary categories.

Best Live Action Short Film

Winner Predictions

• Ala Kachuu – Take and Run (PP R) [New]
• The Dress
• The Long Goodbye (WL O) (TB O) (TL O)
• On My Mind
• Please Hold

Runner-Up Predictions

• Ala Kachuu – Take and Run (WL R) [New] (TL R) [New]
• On My Mind (TB O)
• Please Hold (PP O)

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Wesley Lovell: There are incredibly important messages behind all of this year’s nominees, but two of them are more likely to resonate with voters. The Long Goodbye is a horrific depiction of how the white nationalist movement in the United Kingdom (and tangentially all such movements around the world) could spiral out of control in the future. Ala Kachuu is about the awful fate of women in Kyrgyzstan who are kidnapped and forced into marriage against their will all in subservience of an outdated moral code. While I think Ala Kachuu is the better overall film and I was quite taken by On My Mind and The Long Goodbye, I think the film featuring Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed is the more likely film to triumph.
Peter J. Patrick: Ala-Kachuu, a suspense-filled tale of an intelligent young woman who is kidnapped and forced into marriage in Kyrgyzstan, is the best of a strong group of short films. The serio-comic Please Hold and the heartbreaking On My Mind would also be worthy winners, although the preachy The Long Goodbye seems to be the consensus favorite.
Tripp Burton: Interesting note: it has been five years since a foreign language film won in this category. The star power of nominee Riz Ahmed and the political importance of The Long Goodbye should easily propel it to a win here
Thomas La Tourrette: The Long Goodbye seems to be the predicted winner. It starts well, takes an unexpected and violent turn, then just turns weird. I am okay with it winning, but it would be lower on my list, though Riz Ahmed does make an impact. For me, the one with the most emotional impact was On My Mind, a Danish film about a man desperate to sing a song for his wife. I was in tears by the end. Ala Kachuu was a mostly despairing look at life in Kyrgyzstan but riveting. It was long and did not feel like it. The Polish film The Dress follows a hotel maid and takes some unexpected twists, not always pleasant, but it stays with you. Please Hold is about a young man who wrongfully gets arrested. It was a strong year for the live action shorts and any could win, though it probably will go to The Long Goodbye.

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