If the Academy judged features by the same standards that they do live action shorts, the best picture ballot would be full of starry, quasi-political issue movies: well-meaning but manipulative films like “Father Stu” and “The Janes.” In this category, it’s the message that matters to Oscar voters, which makes this year’s “2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action” program (available exclusively in theaters from ShortsTV) one of the most frustrating lineups in recent memory. Or it would, if not for the presence of one genuinely brilliant, liberatingly unserious nominee among them. That would be “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” the best of several delightful Roald Dahl adaptations director Wes Anderson cooked up for Netflix … but we’ll come to that in due time.
The slate opens with a far inferior Netflix short, “The After,” a risibly manipulative portrait of grief and finding the strength to move...
The slate opens with a far inferior Netflix short, “The After,” a risibly manipulative portrait of grief and finding the strength to move...
- 3/4/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Ahead of the Academy Awards, we’ve reviewed every short film in each category: Animation, Documentary, and Live Action. Here are the Best Live Action Short nominees:
Invincible | Canada | 30 minutes
The line “I’ll never be in your position” hits hard about halfway through Vincent René-Lortie’s Invincible. We’ve already seen it come true because of where Marc (Léokim Beaumier-Lépine) ends up––courtesy the prologue-set future that unfolds before the short film rewinds backwards in time––but those words are less premonition than tragic reality. He speaks them in response to his juvenile-detention-center case worker (Ralph Prosper’s Luc) asking what he should do about the boy’s latest transgression. Despite good grades and an empathetic heart, Marc finds himself on a path that does not lead towards authoritative roles. His past deeds have marked him. His present resentments have destroyed hope.
Based on true events, Marc’s dual...
Invincible | Canada | 30 minutes
The line “I’ll never be in your position” hits hard about halfway through Vincent René-Lortie’s Invincible. We’ve already seen it come true because of where Marc (Léokim Beaumier-Lépine) ends up––courtesy the prologue-set future that unfolds before the short film rewinds backwards in time––but those words are less premonition than tragic reality. He speaks them in response to his juvenile-detention-center case worker (Ralph Prosper’s Luc) asking what he should do about the boy’s latest transgression. Despite good grades and an empathetic heart, Marc finds himself on a path that does not lead towards authoritative roles. His past deeds have marked him. His present resentments have destroyed hope.
Based on true events, Marc’s dual...
- 2/14/2024
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Vincent René-Lortie’s devastating short Invincible follows the final 48 hours of a desperately troubled teen’s life. Based on the tragic true story of his childhood friend Marc-Antoine Bernier, Invincible is a grounded drama which provides a deeply informed focus on the 14-year-old Marc as an individual who was much more than the collective memory of his chaotic behaviour which brought him to breaking point. A regular here on Directors Notes – this interview marks his fifth appearance on our pages – René-Lortie worked on the film for six years, throughout which he conducted detailed and intimate research to gain a deeper understanding of the precarious nature of his childhood friend’s mental health at the time. However, Invincible doesn’t just focus on the violence of Marc’s final hours, with scenes of beauty and bonding showcasing the duality of its young protagonist and illustrating the hope that he’d be...
- 2/14/2024
- by Sarah Smith
- Directors Notes
Léokim Beaumier-Lépine and Élia St-Pierre in Invincible
Following the last 48 hours in the life of a teenager who has been sentenced to juvenile detention, French Canadian short Invincible is one of the strongest Oscar nominees in its category, a beautifully crafted piece of cinema which makes a powerful point. It’s no surprise to learn that it’s based on events that haunted its director, Vincent René-Lortie, for many years. I meat Vincent just a few days before the nominations were announced. “We really cross our fingers, but at the end of the day, it's okay if we're not nominated because we just feel so lucky that we're here already,” he told me, explaining that what really matters to him is that people see the film and it makes them think.
“It’s the story of my friend Marc-Antoine Bernier, who passed away at the age of 14,” he says. “The...
Following the last 48 hours in the life of a teenager who has been sentenced to juvenile detention, French Canadian short Invincible is one of the strongest Oscar nominees in its category, a beautifully crafted piece of cinema which makes a powerful point. It’s no surprise to learn that it’s based on events that haunted its director, Vincent René-Lortie, for many years. I meat Vincent just a few days before the nominations were announced. “We really cross our fingers, but at the end of the day, it's okay if we're not nominated because we just feel so lucky that we're here already,” he told me, explaining that what really matters to him is that people see the film and it makes them think.
“It’s the story of my friend Marc-Antoine Bernier, who passed away at the age of 14,” he says. “The...
- 1/30/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Films make their way onto the Oscar short film shortlists in myriad ways. Some of them have plainly set out to get that kind of attention and have big budgets for their size, well seasoned crews and accomplished stars. Others – more than in any other awards section – come out of nowhere, making their way to the top purely on talent and ideas. Invincible is one such creation – a modest little film whose raison d’être is very personal. When he made it, director Vincent René-Lortie had no expectation of winning major prizes – he just wanted to tell the story of the last 48 hours in the life of a boy he used to know.
That boy was Marc-Antoine Bernier, played here by Léokim Beaumier-Lépine, whose performance is something special. We glimpse him first when he’s sitting in a car at night making a tearful phone call to his...
That boy was Marc-Antoine Bernier, played here by Léokim Beaumier-Lépine, whose performance is something special. We glimpse him first when he’s sitting in a car at night making a tearful phone call to his...
- 1/20/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“Riverdale” star Lili Reinhart has boarded Vincent René-Lortie’s short film “Invincible” as an executive producer.
She will exec produce via her production banner Small Victory Productions, which she founded with her producing partner Catherine Hagedorn, who serves as the company’s SVP of production.
“Invincible” deals with themes of mental health and self-destruction.
“Inspired by a true story, ‘Invincible’ recounts the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom,” reads the synopsis.
It stars Léokim Beaumier-Lépine, Élia-St Pierre, Isabelle Blais, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Ralph Prosper, Florence Blain Mbaye, Naoufel Chkirate and Miguel Tionjock.
René-Lortie wrote and directed the short, with Alexandre Nour Desjardins as director of photography. Samuel Caron and Élise Lardinois at Telescope films produced the project.
“Invincible” has been shortlisted for the live action short category at the Oscars.
“Through Vincent’s storytelling, I was immediately pulled into our young Marc’s world,...
She will exec produce via her production banner Small Victory Productions, which she founded with her producing partner Catherine Hagedorn, who serves as the company’s SVP of production.
“Invincible” deals with themes of mental health and self-destruction.
“Inspired by a true story, ‘Invincible’ recounts the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom,” reads the synopsis.
It stars Léokim Beaumier-Lépine, Élia-St Pierre, Isabelle Blais, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Ralph Prosper, Florence Blain Mbaye, Naoufel Chkirate and Miguel Tionjock.
René-Lortie wrote and directed the short, with Alexandre Nour Desjardins as director of photography. Samuel Caron and Élise Lardinois at Telescope films produced the project.
“Invincible” has been shortlisted for the live action short category at the Oscars.
“Through Vincent’s storytelling, I was immediately pulled into our young Marc’s world,...
- 1/11/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
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