Written and directed by Shawn Christensen for himself to star in, Curfew won the Academy Award for Best Short Film in 2013. Curfew, also starring child actor Fatima Ptacek, was written as a proof of concept for the feature film, Before I Disappear. Richie is at a low point in his life when he gets a call from his estranged sister asking him to look after his nephew, Sophia, for a few hours. Their night time excursion reveals a connection between two lost souls.
Terry George had been nominated for an Oscar in 2005 for his feature film Hotel Rwanda, so it is perhaps no surprise that the Academy awarded him the Best Short Film Oscar for The Shore. It is a gentle drama about a man returning to Northern Ireland with his grown daughter after 25 years in America. He feels he needs to track down an old friend and apologise for deserting him after he was shot during The Troubles. However, this is not a political film by any means.
Wish 143 was nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar in 2011. A black comedy directed by Ian Barnes and written by Simon Bigwell, it follows the efforts of a young cancer patient, David, trying to fulfil his final wish: which is to lose his virginity. The charity offers him Gary Neville (the soccer player) instead and his friendly priest tries to deter him but David is determined to pop his cherry before he pops his clogs.