2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films Live Action       4 ½ stars

The Oscar Nominated Shorts, Live Action mainly deal with very serious subjects and have only a single comedy among them.  My favorite was “The Silent Child”, a film written by a deaf advocate who also acts in it, about a young deaf five-year-old girl who is neglected by her family who are too concerned with their own lives to learn sign language and to communicate with their daughter.  The social worker succeeds in drawing her out of her shell in spite of the oblivious family.  Another that I really liked was “Watu Wote”, from Germany, which concerns an actual event near the Kenya/Somalia border where a busload of poor travelers were attacked by Muslim extremists.  At great risk to themselves, the Muslim passengers protected the Christian passengers from being killed by the terrorists.  The film was terrifying and uplifting in how events transpire.  The Oscar Nominated Shorts may still be in theaters so you have a chance to see them.