Critic's Grade: A+

February 21st, 2005 Coolidge Corner Cinema, Brookline roles out the prestigious red carpet for this-years 6th annual gala evening of Oscar Contenders. The evening began with a short film introduction of last year's sold-out event with the 1st ever Coolidge Awards. The guest is one of the legends in foreign filmmaking that is responsible for award winning cinema Director Chang Yimou ("Raise The Red Lantern", "Hero", and "House of Flying Daggers"). Yimou speaks about art, culture and how he delivers each film with passion, skill, and the rich history of Chinese cinema. The evening consisted of Film Critic Loren King giving thoughts on this once a year event. So, sit back, grab yourself a big bag of buttered popcorn we're going to the movies! Folks, it's been an excellent year for the documentaries especially the selection below. Student Academy Award winner Kimberlee Bassford creates this outstanding, as she looks into the world of student cheerleaders in this priceless gem "Cheerleader". Other incredible selection of short nominated films including: Autism is a World, Sister Rose's Passion, Harwood, Mighty Times: The Children's March, and Two Cars, One Night. Let's not forget some of the exquisite animated short feature films that are possible Oscar winners. The lineup has these fascinating cinematic favorites Guard Dog, Lorenzo, and Ryan are all in the running for the gold statuette. I had the honor of attending last night's gala evening and look forward to seeing more future stars of the stage and screen. I have never witnessed such diversity in a series of short films like what I experienced last night. All of the films are based on true actual events that take place in the world today and will have such an impact come Oscar time. It's going to be tough for myself to select my personal pick from each category. Here are the nominations for the four categories that will be presented February 27th, 2005 at the 77th annual Academy Awards ceremony. 2004 Student Academy Award Winner: Cheerleader (Student Director: Kimberlee Bassford, 24min) Documentary Short Subject nominees: Autism Is a World (Director: Gerardine Wurzburg, 40min) The Children of Leningradsky (Directors: Hanna Polak, Andrej Celinski, 35min) Harwood (Director: Hubert Davis, 29min) Mighty Times: The Children's March Sister Rose's Passion (Director: Oren Jacoby, 39min) Animated Short Film nominees: Birthday Boy Gopher Broke Guard Dog Lorenzo Ryan Live Action Short Film nominees: Everything in This Country Must Little Terrorist 7:35 in the Morning Two Cars, One Night Wasp

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