Catch the Oscar-nominated short films at FSU's Student Life Center

As always, this year’s Oscar Shorts are varied not only in style but also in the subject matter, covering topics such as personal relationships, sexual exploitation, and trauma, among many others.

The Tallahassee Film Society is hosting screenings of the 2022 Oscar Nominated Short Films in partnership with the FSU Student Life Center starting Sunday.

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Despite the quite adult tone of the pieces nominated this year — a departure from prior years with more kid-friendly entries — hints of lightness can be glimpsed within the list.

Sergey Selyano and Aleksandr Boyarskiy’s “Boxballet” is a wordless film featuring a character design, with the lithe ballerina Olya and blocky boxer Evgeny, uniquely reflective of its internal world. On the surface, the selection is about how Olya and Evgeny cross paths and slowly fall in love.

More deeply, the film represents something more corporeal, the physical and mental toll of boxing on Evgeny and the exploitation of Olya’s body by taking her dream hostage. Quietly beautiful, the film’s ending is not about a defeat but a new beginning.

Perhaps the most optimistic and only child-friendly selection this year, “Robin Robin” by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please is about a young robin adopted by a family of mice. The stop motion film is filled with adorable, fluffy animals and fun musical numbers that reflect its predictable but uplifting message about self-acceptance. As Dad Mouse states at the end, “We’re the mouse family” — even if one of “us” might be a robin.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, and not for the faint of heart, Hugo Covarrubias’ “Bestia,” a wordless, stop-motion film, offers a bloody, confusing mix of bestiality, trauma, murder, and nightmare. It follows Ingrid, who works for the Chilean Intelligence Directorate, depicted in jarring contrasts, her shiny, porcelain face at odds with her soft cloth body. The hole in her face is a reminder of the wound of the past.

“Affairs of The Art” by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills follows Beryl, who while reflecting on her own journey as an artist, chronicles the members of her unique family whose obsessions could be considered quite gross or impressive — like Beverly, teaching herself to taxidermy their pet dog after its death.

Resembling an artist’s sketchbook, the hand-drawn film is lighthearted, with a naked style (and filled with nudity, too). The film's vibrant characters, rendered even more so through the vibrations of the illustrations, carry a message of encouragement towards the continued pursuit of one’s passions no matter what others think.

Realistic in style and dialogue with great attention to detail, “The Windshield Wiper,” by Alberto Mielgo, switches back and forth between snapshots of unidentified locations and nameless people in various stages of connection and disconnection.

In one memorable moment, a schoolgirl in Asia jumps off the building. In another, a homeless man shouts at a mannequin or his reflection on the display window while another scene features a couple kissing on top of a skateboard. The film’s refusal to give much explanation equals part of its charm. In the end, the audience is left to question the relation between the various scenes, and what, if anything, they mean to say about love.

The Animated Shorts will be playing at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 6, and at 6 p.m. Friday, March 11. Live Action Shorts will be screened at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 6, and the Documentary Shorts at 6 p.m. Monday, March 7. All screenings at the SLC on FSU’s campus at 942 Learning Way. For more information, visit union.fsu.edu/movies

So Young Koo is an Ph.D. candidate in the Literature, Media, & Culture program in English at FSU.

If you go

What: The Tallahassee Film Society is hosting screenings of the 2022 Oscar Nominated Short Films in partnership with the FSU Student Life Center

When: The Animated Shorts will be playing at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 6, and at 6 p.m. Friday, March 11. Live Action Shorts will be screened at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 6, and the Documentary Shorts at 6 p.m. Monday, March 7.

Where: All screenings at the Student Life Center on FSU’s campus at 942 Learning Way

Details: For more information, visit union.fsu.edu/movies

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: This year's Oscar-nominated shorts take a mostly adult tone