This Academy Award-Nominated Norwegian Short Film Is One of Our All-Time Favorites

I don't know about you, but I love a good short film. They're little snippets of excellent stories that have deep characters and emotional resonance.

One of my favorites of all time comes from Norway and is entitled Tuba Atlantic. It was nominated for an Academy award and then controversially had that nomination taken away because it showed on Norwegian television once. This is why many people then didn't get to see the short, because there was no nomination push. 

Directed by Hallvar Witzø and written by Linn-Jeanethe Kyed, this laugh-out-loud roller coaster is a must-see short film. 

I wanted to post it here and talk about why I think it's one of the best shorts of all time. So check it out below and let's talk after! 

As I mentioned above, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2012, but the nomination was rescinded after the ceremony when it was discovered that the film had first aired on television before its theatrical release.

This is a touching story of Oskar, a man with only six days to live. This comedy revolves around him making up with his brother who lives in New Jersey. To do this, he must craft a tuba they designed as kids. 

This short capitalizes on the idea of arriving late and leaving early. It has a character with stakes, a clear goal, and it compresses everything down to a week.

These strategies are easy to emulate when you work on your own short films. They're excellent ways to get the audience into the story quickly and to be economical about how you roll out the beats that continue to draw us in. 

Did you watch it? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.