True/False Films

Oscar Shorts

In person: co-director Amanda Micheli (La Corona) and cameraman/editor Francisco Bello (Salim Baba).

On the Sunday before T/F weekend, the Academy hands down its verdict of what short film deserved the Oscar. But all of these marvels deserve to be seen.

Salim Baba (dir. Timothy Sternberg, 14 min.) — Since 1965, Salim Baba has run his handcranked 1897 projector for his neighbors in the slums of Kolkata, India. Six days a week he "packs the house" — a scrap of black tarpaulin — to show discarded film fragments from Bollywood musicals. It's a constant battle to keep the gear running — he scavenges a cheap lens normally used for palm reading.

Sari's Mother (dir. James Longley, 21 min.) is a missing chapter of the stunning Iraq in Fragments, and tells the story of a poor family living south of Baghdad and how one courageous mother struggles to get help for a sick child in the shattered healthcare system.

Freeheld (dir. Cynthia Wade, 40 min.) is about a nail-biting political fight. When police lieutenant Laurel Hester battled cancer, she didn't bargain for another struggle: to leave her earned pension to her domestic partner. As Laurel's plight worsens, it spurs a media frenzy and a passionate advocacy campaign. In

La Corona (dir. Amanda Micheli & Isabel Vega, 40 min.) — We are plunged headfirst into a beauty pageant made up of killers, guerillas and thieves. In a Bogota, Colombia, women's penitentiary, the pageant is a major annual event, featuring a "queen" from each cellblock.