It’s been an eventful week for directors Lucy Walker and Grant Orchard as both have seen their short films not only earn Academy Award nominations on Tuesday morning (see separate SHOOT Oscars rundown), but also that evening garner jury prizes at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Their parallel universe also includes Walker’s film, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, having been produced by the company that handles her for commercials and branded content, bicoastal Supply & Demand Integrated, while Orchard’s short, A Morning Stroll, too was produced by his spotmaking roost, Studio AKA in London.
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom picked up the Sundance Jury Prize in Short Film, Non-Fiction. A visual haiku and a story of survival, this short film documents the resurrection of life in Japan following the triple disaster of a devastating earthquake which triggered a tsunami as well as a nuclear radiation crisis.
“I think the film is about life and death and truth and beauty,” said Walker upon accepting the award. She was flustered by the remarkable events of the day, “I got nominated for an Academy Award and I got carded here,” she joked.
Walker’s short was shot by DP Aaron Phillips, who’s handled by The Skouras Agency, and edited by Aki Mizutani of Cutters Editorial.
As for A Morning Stroll, it won the Sundance Jury Prize in Animated Short Film. The short centers on a New Yorker walking past a chicken on his morning stroll, leaving us to wonder which one is the real city slicker.
The other five short film Jury Prize winners at Sundance were:
o Fishing Without Nets /USA, which took the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking. (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey) — A story of pirates in Somalia, told from the perspective of the pirates themselves. Said the Short Film Jury of the film, “By approaching a story of epic scope with an intimate perspective, this visually stunning film creates a rare, inside point of view that humanizes a global story.”
o The Black Balloon / U.S.A. won The Jury Prize in Short Film, U.S. Fiction. (Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie) — The Black Balloon strays from the herd and experiences what life as an individual is like. He explores New York City in the deepest way, seeing all of its characters.
o The Return (Kthimi) / Kosovo copped the Jury Prize in Short Film, International Fiction. (Director: Blerta Zeqiri, Screenwriter: Shefqet Gjocaj) — A man comes back from a Serb prison to his wife and son. Much has changed since he was declared missing and continuing where they left off four years ago may not be as easy as it seems.
o The Arm / U.S.A. won the Special Jury Award for Comedic Storytelling. (Directors and screenwriters: Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis) — In an attempt to keep up with social pressure in a technologically advanced world, Chance starts a texting relationship with Genevieve, a girl he meets at a yogurt shop.
o Robots of Brixton / United Kingdom earned the Special Jury Award for Animation Direction. (Director: Kibwe Tavares) — The trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment.
Select company
These seven shorts are in select company, pointed out Trevor Groth, director of programming for the Sundance Film Festival.
“The explosion of interest in the short form is evidenced by the record number of short films submitted to this year’s Festival,” said Groth. “Our shorts programming team as well as audiences at the Festival have been struck by the depth of quality and uncompromised voices present in these stories from around the world. Our esteemed jury selected seven winners from a field of 64 that represent a talented group of artists who are sure to continue pushing the limits of creative filmmaking.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More