SHORTLIST FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT OSCAR REVEALED

We’re one step closer now though, as The Academy has revealed their shortlists for a number of categories. Including (relevant to our interests) that for Best Animated Short. The list has been whittled down from 96 films that qualified this year. It’s from these 10 shorts that the nominees will be announced. Kapaemahu, rooted in Pacific Islander and Polynesian mythology, is a US production but a non English-language film. It will hope to add an Oscar nomination to its already impressive list of nominations and festival selections.

Oscars: Best Animated Shorts Predictions 2021

This year’s shortlist of 10 animated shorts reflects the zeitgeist, the impact of the pandemic on festival exposure, and the ascendance of streaming. Yet they all reflect the turmoil, uncertainty, and need for unity that define the moment. Frontrunners: “If Anything Happens I Love You” – “Kapaemahu” – “Opera” – “Out” – “The Snail and the Whale”

‘Kapaemahu’ First Hawaiian Animated Short to Make Oscars Shortlist

A week ago we anticipated that animated short film, Kapaemahu, could be the first ever Native Hawaiian film to have ever been nominated for the Academy Awards Shortlist. And yesterday, 9 February 2021, history has been made as Kapaemahu has made it through the first round of voting and is now on the official Oscars Shortlist of ten films for the 93rd Oscars Shortlist in the ‘Animated Short Film’ category!!

The Very Existence of Kapaemahu is a Bit of a Miracle

As unlikely as the story’s re-emergence may be, Wong-Kalu’s retelling of it would be captivating even without the backstory. Enlisting award-winning filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson to co-direct, and handing animation duties to award-winning director Daniel Sousa (whose 2012 short Feral was nominated for an Oscar), Wong-Kalu clearly put a great deal of thought into how best to tell this mo’olelo. Every detail of Kapaemahu feels well considered, from its glowing orange and brown hues to the narration in Olelo Niihau (“the only continuously spoken form of Hawaiian“) to a 2D art style that balances a contemporary aesthetic with visual cues from traditional Polynesian art. It’s a style that’s respectful of tradition while still feeling very much alive.

Honoring Fluidity as an Asset Allows All of Us to Access Our Full Power

This mythic, gorgeously conceived Oscar-longlisted animation — written and directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, with director of animation Daniel Sousa — may be short in format, but its sweep is epic in feel, bringing to life a powerful legend with a compelling authenticity and rich storytelling. Relayed in the language of Olelo Niihau, a rare dialect of Hawaiian spoken before Western contact, the story captures a vein of spiritual wisdom, bringing it back to light and consciousness as an act of love and honor.

Kapaemahu: Animating an Ancient, Sacred Story

The filmmakers have been thrilled with the reception the short has received worldwide. Says Wilson, “One thing we didn’t expect is the way that the film has been embraced by youth. And maybe the greatest reaction was the message we recently received on Facebook from a local viewer: ‘I keep wondering who I’d have been if I’d seen it as a soft little boy at Kailua Elementary. I’m so excited for the kids who get to see it now.’”