Oscar Nominated Shorts-Documentary

We suspected they were going to be heartbreaking. We knew which documentary won the Oscar, and we knew it was going to tear out our hearts, but we still had hope that there might be one or two that were fascinating, yet light-hearted. Possibly something about how trees communicate, or people trying mushrooms to ease their mental health; those could be fun.

Our suspicions were confirmed. We got one that was about 3 donkeys, which was not dramatic, but I was still tense the whole time, fearing they would be attacked by a jackal or a drunk dude with a rifle.

They were fine, but once the donkeys left the screen, the anguish and sorrow set in hard, fast, and unrelenting.

In order of viewing:

The following documentary is the one that won the Oscar. A "win" feels like a slap in the face for decency and humanity, but if it encourages even one politician to have the courage to fight for gun control, that has value.

We were hoping for an emotional reprieve after that one, then we saw the title of the final film. Emotional reprieve was not in the cards.

This documentary tells of the silent protests in Israel, showing the faces, names, and ages of children being killed by Israel in Gaza. The protests are silent because then no permit is needed; allowing the group to set up in various places on a shorter timeline. This one was the most interesting to me from a human study perspective. The people involved very much wanted the Israeli hostages to be freed and brought home. They were not against Israel. They are against the slaughter of innocent children; all the children.

So often the world asks us to hold multiple emotions and truths, and that is difficult.

It was fitting that when we came out of the theater into the dark of night, the weather had gone from 60 degrees during the day down to 23 with sleety snow covering the ground. We were emotionally rent, and I'm not sure we were glad we went, but it's good that we did.