For the 21st consecutive year, the MV Film Society presents the Oscar-Nominated Short Films, opening on Feb. 20th. With three thrilling categories – Animated, Live Action, and Documentary – this is your chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts. The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 15th. The five nominated films are below…
OSCAR WINNERS (yes a tie) THE SINGERS (Jury Prize at the 20th MV Int’l Film Festival last September) and TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA
Some films in this program contain adult language, adult themes and sensual images. Recommended for persons 17 and up.
BUTCHER’S STAIN – Meyer Levinson-Blount, 26 min.
Samir, a Palestinian butcher working at an Israeli supermarket, is accused of tearing down the Israeli hostage posters in the break room. Samir sets out to prove his innocence in order to keep his job he desperately needs.
A FRIEND OF DOROTHY – Lee Knight, 21 mins.
Dorothy (BAFTA winner Miriam Margolyes) is a lonely widow whose body is failing, but her mind remains as bright as ever. When 17-year-old JJ (Alistair Nwachukwu) accidentally kicks his football into her garden, he upends Dorothy’s daily routine of pills, prunes and crosswords, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Despite being worlds apart in every way, the two come to find they have more in common than they could ever imagine.
JANE AUSTEN’S PERIOD DRAMA – Steve Pinder and Julia Aks, 12 mins.
England, 1813. In the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal, Miss Estrogenia Talbot gets her period. Her suitor, the dashing Mr. Dickley, mistakes the blood for an injury, and it soon becomes clear that his very expensive education has most certainly missed a spot.
OSCAR WINNER — THE SINGERS – Sam A. Davis, 18 mins.
WINNER 2025 JURIED SHORT FILM COMPETITION – 20th Annual Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival
THE SINGERS is a short film adaptation of a 19th-century short story written by Ivan Turgenev, in which a lowly pub full of downtrodden patrons connect unexpectedly through an impromptu sing-off. With a cast comprised of viral video singing talents and other one-of-a-kind personalities from the unlikeliest corners of the internet, the film is an experimental docu-musical hybrid crafted like an improvisational play.
OSCAR WINNER – TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA – Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh, 36 mins.
In a society where kissing is punishable by death, and people pay for things by receiving slaps to the face. Angine, an unhappy woman, shops compulsively in a department store. There, she becomes fascinated by a playful salesgirl. Despite the prohibition of kissing, the two become close, raising the suspicions of a jealous colleague.
