On the trigger of a gun

Oscar-nominated live-action shorts

After the first 3 films in the program, I was ready to write that the weakest nominee was better than the best in this category some years. The quality fell off a bit in the last two films, but I'll still say that top to bottom, this is easily the best set of live-action nominees I've seen. I'm hard-pressed to pick a favorite, and I have no idea about a winner, except to say that I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the two I consider weakest.

Crit

• DeKalb Elementary--Bare-bones filmmaking produces excruciating tension as a disturbed young man brings an automatic rifle into a school. Reed Van Dyk wrote and directed the film, based on an actual 911 call, and Bo Mitchell as the shooter and Shinelle Azoroh as the receptionist, on an emergency call the shooter has instructed her to make, bring the story agonized humanity.
• The Silent Child--Young deaf daughter introduced to a teacher who might be capable of overcoming the worst parenting ever. Sounds like a soupy Miracle Worker, but again, smart writing and direction (Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton, respectively) and committed performances by Shenton and young Maisie Sly make us believe and care.
• My Nephew Emmett--The primary power in this one comes from the realization, when the title sets the place and time as Money, Mississippi, 1955, of who, exactly, this Emmett is. After that, there's no tension, just the queasy knowledge of how the story is going to play out. The cast is solid, and Laura Valladao's cinematography stands out.
• The Eleven O'clock--This is essentially an O. Henry joke whose surprise ending isn't surprising. Made worthwhile by the rhetorical tennis match between Josh Lawson and Damon Herriman as two men, one a psychiatrist, the other a patient with delusions of . . . being a psychiatrist. It's all good silly fun, but from early on you can't help thinking, Why doesn't the real one simply walk to the wall and point to his name on the diplomas?
• Watu Wote/All of Us--Another film based on a remarkable true story: of Muslim passengers protecting Christians when a Kenyan bus is waylaid by a band of Al Shabaab thugs. The 4th- or 5th-best film of the bunch, but don't be surprised if its message of hope and humanity amid terror nabs the statue.