“Flowers For Jupiter” by visual artist Chris Mars is an animated short about a young girl who loses her index finger. / Courtesy Palm Springs International ShortFest
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What: The Palm Springs International ShortFest
When: Tuesday-June 27. Opening night 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, daily screenings begin at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Box office 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through Monday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday; one hour before first show; 30 minutes after last show.
Where: Camelot Theatres, 2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs. An online film festival also will be held at www.psfilmfest.org/shortfest
Tickets: $9 for programs beginning before 3 p.m., $10 for later films and afternoon panels and workshops. Opening and Closing Night films and parties, $25. Filmmaker parties $25. Insider's Pass for all programs $200. Reel Deal Six Pack available through Tuesday for $45.
Information: (760) 778-8979 or psfilmfest.org
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If Darryl Macdonald had been asked to pick the five best Oscar contenders before last year's Palm Springs International ShortFest, he wouldn't have chosen the five festival films that won nominations. “We just book the short films we love,” the ShortFest executive director said. “There are so many elements involved that trying to handicap potential nominees this far out is virtually certain to fail.”
But ShortFest has developed a reputation after 16 years as nearly as much of a showcase of Oscar-nominated films as its sister feature festival in January. Last year's second-place winner for best animated short, “The Lost Thing,” and last year's second-place winner for best student live action short over 15 minutes, “God of Love,” both won Oscars.
Festival winners in four categories are automatically eligible for Oscar nominations, so you can bet that many of the 331 submissions in the ShortFest will be contenders for Oscar nominations next January.
So Macdonald and Kathleen McInnis, curator/director of industry programming, agreed to try again to pick the films that will get 2012 Oscar consideration. They also selected a handful of films that might fly under the Oscar voters' radar.
Oscar best bets
“The Sea Is All I Know,” starring Melissa Leo as a mother caught between her daughter's determination and her husband's intransigence. Macdonald calls it an “incredibly moving tale of family and faith. Melissa Leo gives a heart-wrenching, typically brilliant performance.” Screening in the Transitions package at 1 p.m., June 24.
“Flowers For Jupiter,” an animated short about a young girl who loses her index finger, by visual artist Chris Mars. Macdonald calls it “dazzling, endlessly inventive,” and says Mars “demonstrates a macabre, Tim Burton-like sensibility and an incredibly fertile visual imagination in a short quite unlike anything else you've ever seen at ShortFest.” Screening in the Twisted 'Toons package at 2:30 p.m., June 24.
Macdonald's picks
“David and Goliath,” U.S., part of Memories Are Made of This, 10:30 a.m., June 25.
“3 Hours,” UK, part of World of Wonder, 1 p.m. Wednesday.
“Between Heaven and Earth,” Germany, and “Borderland,” U.S., part of Crossing Over, 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“The Labyrinth,” U.S., part of Art Attack, 4 p.m. Wednesday.
“Yogurt Cups,” Czech Republic, part of Altered States, 1 p.m. Thursday.
“Two Steps Behind,” Poland, and “The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” U.S., part of Fantastic Animation, 2 p.m. Thursday.
“Flying Anne,” Netherlands, and “Incident In New Baghdad,” part of Award-Winning Documentaries, 10 a.m., June 24.
“It Is Nothing (Ce N'est Rien),” Canada, part of True Crime, 1:30 p.m., June 25.
“Mokhtar,” Canada, part of Same Planet, Different World, 11:30 a.m., June 26
“The Shore,” UK, part of Unexpected Connections, 2:30 p.m., June 26
McInnis' picks
“Bekas,” the student Academy Award winner from Sweden, part of Sibling Stories, 12:30 p.m., June 26.
“Chasm,” from “X-Men” writer David Hayter, U.S., part of Communication Breakdown, 7:30 p.m., June 25.
“Love, Davka,” Israel, part of Extraordinary People, 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
“Turning,” UK, part of Altered States, 1 p.m. Thursday.
“Connect,” UK, part of Unexpected Connections, 2:30 p.m., June 26.
“The Wind,” Brazil, part of Same Planet Different World, 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
