The five finalists for this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject will be shown on a single program beginning Jan. 31 at Asheville’s Grail Moviehouse, and Feb. 7 at Pisgah Film House. Following are individual reviews of each film, followed by an overall grade.

For reviews of the 2020 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts, click here.

For reviews of the 2020 Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts, click here.

In the Absence
by Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam

The story: This 28-minute film recounts the sinking of a huge South Korean ferry called the MV Sewol in April 2014, in which most of the 476 passengers and crew members died, despite the fact that the ship stayed at least partially afloat for more than a day after turning on its side. The focus of the documentary is the inexplicably tepid response of the Korean Coast Guard — most of the rescued passengers were picked up by volunteer fishing vessels — and the resulting scandal that engulfed the nation’s president, Park Geun-hye.

In short: The footage from the sinking is eye-opening and awful — including some cellphone footage from inside the ferry’s cabins — and the filmmakers got some very moving interviews with survivors, a diver who spent months trying to recover bodies from the sea bottom, and the parents of a few of the more than 300 high school age students aboard. What they did not get was any interview with the politicians, bureaucrats, and Coast Guard members who bungled the rescue and doomed so many people who might have been saved. (Some of these people are heard in footage from investigative hearings held more than a year later.)

So while In the Absence sheds light on a terrible, little-known, and possibly avoidable catastrophe, and some elements of its aftermath, it leaves quite a bit unanswered, including the fate of the captain (whose quick departure from the listing vessel gives the film its title), the reason for the sinking in the first place, and any changes made in Coast Guard procedures as a result. Grade: B-minus —Bruce C. Steele

(In the Absence photo, above, courtesy of Field of Vision)

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Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)
by Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva

The story: Skateistan empowers young Kabul-based women via classroom and skateboard education.

In short: Easily the cutest and most heartwarming story of the bunch, it also sports arguably the lowest production value. Still, glimpses of impoverished home lives and first-hand accounts of severe hardships for women in Afghanistan imbue the school and skating scenes with a particular urgency, powerfully stressing that these moments may be merely temporary for many of the girls. Grade: B —Edwin Arnaudin

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Life Overtakes Me
by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson

The story: Refugees in Sweden contend with Resignation Syndrome, a coma-like condition affecting children since 2003. 

In short: A fascinating and tragic health epidemic is given about as dry a presentation as possible. Directors Haptas and Samuelson move sympathetically yet slowly between three families dealing with the mysterious issue, providing some illumination on the topic, but struggle to engage viewers beyond a basic level. Grade: C —Edwin Arnaudin

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St. Louis Superman
by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

The story: A profile of battle rapper and Ferguson activist Bruce Franks Jr. and his recent work as a Missouri state representative.

In short: A thoroughly likable figure, Franks is a pleasure to be around and an inspiration to his constituents, colleagues, and individuals just now learning about him. He’s so fascinating and complex that the film could stand to be at least twice as long, since, as is, the short is better at raising questions than providing answers.

While understandable, an abrupt text-only coda about Franks’ current doings is somewhat odd, and though the stress that led to his decision is rarely seen, its general absence solidifies his qualifications as a grounded, professional spokesman for the under-served and someone to keep an eye on. Grade: B-plus —Edwin Arnaudin

Walk Run Cha-Cha
by Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt

The story: The New York Times has developed a remarkably talented video team in recent years, and Walk Run Cha-Cha is a shining example of a newspaper feature story turned into a poetic short film. The subjects are Vietnamese-American couple Millie and Paul Cao, who are learning a complicated ballroom dance as a way of reaffirming their love more than 40 years after they met in Vietnam, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. They had known each other only six months when they were separated for six years, before being reunited as refugees in Los Angeles.

In short: The reporter-filmmaker, Laura Nix, never resorts to talking-head interviews, preferring to show the couple and their family going about their lives — and their dance training — while audio interviews provide their background stories as voiceover, a technique that gives Walk Run a lyrical quality.

While the 20-minute film provides sufficient context for the couple’s ballroom dreaming, it opts for atmosphere and evocative visuals rather than trying to cram in all the details of this 60-ish duo’s extended family. (There’s a dinner scene and other clips of family life, but no sit-down interviews with other family members.) And that works fine: The focus is the dance, and what it means to Paul and Millie is best expressed by watching them, not by talking about it. Grade: A-minus —Bruce C. Steele

Overall grade: B. Not rated, but with disturbing images, adult themes and language