South Africa

Oscars 2024 Short Films Review: Live-Action

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

With the Oscar nominations come the annual showing of the nominated short films. Once again, I had the luck of seeing the short films nominated for this year’s Academy Awards. Only one is an American-made film. The rest are from multiple countries. Here’s my review of the films nominated for Best Live-Action Short Film for 2024:

A Lien (dirs. Davit Cutler-Kreutz and Sam Cutler-Kreutz) – The story begins with a family, Oscar, Sophia and their daughter Nina, arriving early for an overseas trip. The trip is for all of them to get their passports. Since there are separate interviews per adult, Nina is with Oscar. Sophia has no problem getting her passport but problems are with Oscar. Turns out his appointment is a set-up with an ICE agent. They know Oscar is illegal and is getting ready to deport Oscar and possibly Nina. Things become of huge concern to Sophia as she doesn’t know why Oscar’s passport is taking so long until she finds out what’s happening.

The story is definitely on the topic of illegal immigrants and ICE cracking down. It’s a big topic as the Trump administration returns to the White House and promises the biggest deportations in US history. The focus here is on the tactic of set-up appointments where they are able to trick the alleged illegal into their trap. Even with the topic, this story presents itself in a heat-of-the-moment crisis situation where the audience fears for the worst as Sophie fears for the worst. Also seeing how Nina could be deported along with Oscar, it will make one think about what’s happening. It makes one think more harm will come from this than good. That’s why I pick this film as my Should Win pick and my WILL WIN pick.

Anuja (dir. Adam J. Graves) – Anuja is a nine year-old girl in Delhi who is a victim of child labor. She and her older sister Palak are both orphaned and they work as sewers at a garment factory to pay their rent. One day, their boss Mr. Verma calls Anuja to the office as a local schoolteacher, Mr. Mishra, has been impressed with Anuja. Mr. Mishra offers her to take an entrance exam to attend a boarding school with paid scholarship, but Mr. Verma wants to keep her for his labor. Palak lets Anuja in on a secret. Palak has made bags out of scraps to see so she can get married but she’s willing to sell them for Anuja for the *400 fee for the exam. Palak wants Anuja to seize this way out. There comes a problem. The morning of the exam will happen soon and Mr. Verma is so impressed with Anuja’s math skills, he wants her there every morning or else she or Palak will be fired. In the end, Anuja makes a crucial decision the day of the exam.

This story is a good story about child labor. The topic of child labor is an uncomfortable one since they’re too young, overworked, underpaid and they miss out on benefits like a good education. This story is one that shows of the hope of a way out, but not without the menacing boss threatening her. Even you yourself will be concerned of what Anuja’s next move will be. The story ends in an ambiguous way as it lets the audience decide for themselves what Anuja’s choice is. It takes you to the heat of that moment in both the classroom, the sweatshop’s office and where Anuja is. A smart way of ending the film.

I’m Not A Robot (dis. Victoria Warmerdam) – The film begins at a music office. One of the workers, a producer named Lara, receives an alert to restart her laptop. The update gives her CAPTCHA code after CAPTCHA code to verify her authenticity. Frustrated how the CAPTCHAs are never ending, she calls tech support, but they give her the news it’s confirmed she’s a robot. A different test consisting of many personal questions confirms she’s 87% likely to be a robot. She consults her boyfriend Daniel about this. The talk between her and Daniel is interfering with an important meeting at her record label since even he can’t confirm she’s not a robot. Even a new worker at work named Pam, but she makes things worse by telling her she’s a robot created by Daniel five years ago to be his girlfriend. It gets to the point there’s only one last thing to do. Even as she meets up with Daniel on the top level of a parkade, she’s told she’s unable to end her life. Will a suicide jump from that parkade confirm if she’s human or a bot?

Of all the nominated films in this category, this is the only comedy. This takes us into a scenario of “What if?” What if there really was a living breathing bot of a human being and they didn’t know it? What if they learned they were a bot even from their loved one? It plays around with that idea. It takes us into the moment and it gets us laughing as each situation gets weirder and weirder. It’s a good laugh break and a good film in itself too.

The Last Ranger (dir. Cindy Lee) – Khuselwa is a ranger at a game reserve in South Africa. She works alongside her fellow ranger Robert to preserve the wildlife and protect from poachers. It is during the COVID pandemic and Robert tells her they’re running out of funds and may have to cease operations, but Khuselwa refuses to stop as her job is her passion.

One day, she sees her young friend Litha walking as she is to sell her father’s carvings. She offers her a ride in the humvee and shows her the animals, including the two rhinos she adores. Both of them notice poachers attempting to go after their horns for sale on the black market. Khuselwa goes to arrest while Litha videotapes. After one of the poachers saws of the horn of a rhino, It becomes a shootout between Khuselwa and the poachers that leave her mortally wounded. After the battle, Litha learns that one of the poachers is her father. Litha is infuriated but her father begs forgiveness. As years pass, Litha is now a ranger with Robert.

This is a story worth telling as it’s of an illegal operation that is still happening now. Poaching of endangered wild animals in Africa as riches for their bodies, hides and body parts are offered. This tells of the story of a common poaching incident but it also tells of bonds between friends, father and daughter and a bond of ranger to animals. There are some rangers who are willing to give their lives for the well-being of animals. Khuselwa was one of those and she’s passed on her values and passion to Litha as she died that day. This makes for an informative story about animal protection as it’s also a good coming of age story of the girl.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (dir. Nebojsa Slijepcevic) – The film begins on a train trip from Belgrade, Serbia to Bar, Montenegro in 1993 in what is still Yugoslavia and during some of the most intense days of the Balkan Wars. A man named Dragan is with four other people of various ages in the same train car. The train trip is stopped suddenly as the White Eagles army have come to inspect the train and will drag out any ‘suspicious’ passengers. One person in the car, the teenager Milan, tells Dragan he has no documentation. Dragan assures him no one in the car will hurt him. As a commander enters the car, Dragan unsuccessfully tries to rebuff him and has to watch as all passengers are inspected. With no papers, Milan is ordered out of the car until Tomo, a Croat army veteran, stops the commander and questions his authority. In turn, it’s Tomo taken off the train to be questioned while Milan is able to return to his seat. Dragan watches as Tomo is led off.

This is a story that reminds us of the Balkan war, a war that deserves not to be forgotten. The story is an example of the brutality and of the ethnic cleaning attempts that happened in the various areas. It’s also a story of goodwill as a Croat army veteran is willing to allow himself to be sacrificed so that the teenager without documents is allowed to live. All through the witnessing of one man who was just simply a passenger. It’s a story that tells a lot. This film won the short film Palme d’Or at Cannes and is the film I feel will be the Most Likely Upsetter.

And there you go. That’s my look at the films nominated in the category of Best Live-Action Short Film. I will be having one blog per category for the short films reviews so animation will be next.

2023 Women’s World Cup – Group G Focus

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Normally when I do my blogs on the Women’s World Cup, I mostly focus on the positive as the excitement builds up. Nevertheless I can’t avoid talking about the negative in women’s football that has happened in the last four years.

Women’s football has always been know to be a victim of sexism; always second-fiddle to the men. Nevertheless the last four years has seen a lot more awareness, activism, disputes and even legal battles involving national teams. Those of you who’ve read my previous 2023 WWC blogs have learned about the disputes involving national teams from Canada, the US and Spain. In the past four years other national teams have had disputes and achievements. Additional achievements include the Australian women’s team achieving better revenue distribution and equal accommodations as the men as well as 12-months maternity leave and Ireland achieving equal pay and equal tournament bonuses in August 2021. In addition, the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be the first WWC where player bonuses will be equal to that of the men.

Continuing problems include: England’s FA saying on July 3rd that England’s team will not receive bonuses for their performances within the tournament; the Jamaican women’s team not receiving enough financial support; Nigeria’s team being denied player bonuses for this Women’s World Cup as well as manager Randy Waldrum being denied more than a year’s pay; and South Africa’s team denied tournament bonuses from their Federation. The issues don’t end with equal pay. Most recently, Zambia’s coach Bruce Mwape was accused of sexual misconduct. I’m sure he’s not the only national coach guilty of it.

No question the issues of sexism are a problem with women’s football. The equal pay is a big challenge. Of course we shouldn’t forget that football is one sport with one of the biggest histories of sexism. Look at the men in football. They’ve always been on top of the world. Women, however, have a history of being forbidden to play football even up to the early-70’s. It isn’t until the start of women’s lib in the 70’s that breakthroughs for women happened, including sport. It was the 1980’s that more women’s national teams started forming and it was only until 1991 when women got their first Women’s World Cup. Sexisms like the lack of equal pay and the lack of attendance are examples of the slow drive to include women in the sport. That’s why I see events like the Women’s World Cup as ways to improve the sport of women’s football. Hopefully in the future, women’s football will be as much of a phenomenon as men’s football.

My next group of focus is Group G. This is one group consisting of one team that’s one of the traditional favorites and three other teams that are working to build their strength on the world stage. Two are nations who have two of the most legendary men’s teams and are now just starting to take their women seriously:

-Sweden (3): Sweden is one team that has to be one of the most underrecognized great teams. They’ve competed in every WWC since it started and finished in the Top 3 in four of the previous eight. That’s half the Women’s World Cups! They’ve also qualified for the Olympic tournaments every time since it started in 1996 and have won two silver medals. Even now the Blågult are a team that should not go overlooked.

The team is coached by Peter Gerhardsson who has coached the team since the 2017 Women’s Euro. The team is full of top-notch players like forward Sofia Jakobsson, midfielders Caroline Seger and Kosovare Asilani, and defender Linda Sembrant. Notable wins they’ve had in the last 12 months have been to China, France, Portugal and Switzerland. They’ve had draws to Germany, Spain and Norway, and they’ve has losses to Denmark and England. Chances are Sweden can prove itself to be a top contender at the Women’s World Cup and could just achieve its first-ever win. Only time will tell.

-South Africa (54): South Africa is a team that’s just starting to make waves in women’s football. France 2019 was the very first WWC for Banyana Banyana. The women have previously completed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. At the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, South Africa finished runner-up in 2018 and won in 2022! They come to Australia/New Zealand ready to prove their abilities.

The team is coached by Desiree Ellis who has coached the team since 2016. The team consists of players who play for teams in leagues in Europe, the US, Mexico and South Africa’s own SAFA Women’s League. Notable wins in the last 12 months include Morocco and Costa Rica. They had a win and a loss to Zambia. Other losses include to Brazil, Australia and Serbia. The stage is set at this Women’s World Cup as a chance for South Africa’s women to be better than most people expect.

-Italy (16): It’s kind of funny that lately in the year after the Men’s World Cup in which Italy fails to qualify, Le Azzurre end up qualifying for the Women’s World Cup! Italy started as a top European team in women’s football when the Women’s World Cup and the Women’s Euro were just starting out. As the boom in women’s football happened in the 21st century, Italy was slow to catch on, missing tournaments or having low results. They’ve shown recent improvements lately. In France 2019, they got as far as the quarterfinals, but failed to make it past the group stage in Euro 2022.

Italy is coached by Milena Bertolini who has coached the team since the 2017 Women’s Euro. Most of the team plays for teams that are part of Italy’s Serie A Femminile. In the past 12 months, they’ve had key wins against New Zealand, South Korea and Romania. Their one draw has been to Morocco and they’ve endured losses to England, Brazil and Belgium. Australia/ New Zealand 2023 could be the place for Italy to prove to be a better team than most anticipate.

-Argentina (28): Argentina’s men are now on top of the world. This is something the women can only dream of right now. This is only the fourth Women’s World Cup La Albiceleste have ever qualified for. Argentina had a weak start in women’s football on the international stage. They were in the 2003 and 2007 Women’s World Cups and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In all three cases, they lost all their group play games. Recently as South America has been making bigger improvements in women’s football, Argentina has improved too. They’ve finished third at the last two Copa America Femenina’s, finished runner-up at the 2019 Pan Am Games and they competed in France 2019 where they had two draws and a loss.

The team has been coached by German Portanova since 2021. The team play for teams in a mix of leagues in Spain, the US, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina’s own Campeonato Femenino. In the past 12 months, they’ve achieved wins against Peru, New Zealand and Chile. They had a win and a draw against Venezuela and a draw against Poland. They’ve also endured losses to Spain, Canada and Colombia. The Women’s World Cup is another opportunity for Argentina to improve as a team and possibly go further than expected.

My Prediction: It’s no sweat to predict Sweden as one of the qualifiers. The other three are a bit of a challenge. I’ll take a risk and say Argentina.

And there you go. That’s my look at Group G of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Crazy how the games will be contested at times when most of us will be sleeping. I’m sure there are some night owls willing to stay up and watch!

2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Group B Focus

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

One thing about football is that there is normally a lot of foregone conclusions on who will win the Cup and who don’t have the best chances. Those are not all guarantees. Even the best teams can bomb out sooner than anyone expected. And I will be getting to that very shortly in my blog. In the meantime, I will be focusing on Group B today. It’s easy to assume one team will win the Cup, but upsets are bound to happen. So without further ado:

Germany fixed-Germany (2): Germany has been seen as one of the best women’s teams consistently. They’ve been in all seven previous World Cups and won twice. In 2016, they won their first Olympic gold medal after three bronzes. They’ve been in the Women’s euro all ten times and won eight. However it’s not to say they’ve had some inconsistencies too. The last World Cup where they finished in the Top 3 was their winner in 2007. Also a year after winning Olympic gold, they were beaten in the quarterfinals of Euro 2017 by Denmark. Even the best have an Achilles heel.

If there’s one thing, Germany has been consistent in play in the last twelve months. They’ve won against Canada, Italy, France and Sweden. They’ve also drawn against Japan and Spain. Chances are if Germany’s on target, they can make this World Cup #3.

China–China, People’s Republic of (15): China is another team that experienced big success when women’s football started establishing itself in the 1990’s. They dominated in the 90’s, but have been set back in recent years. There was even a brief time at the beginning of this decade, they didn’t qualify for either the World Cup or the Olympics. Recent years have shown an improvement with China as they made the Round of 16 at the last World Cup and the quarterfinals at the 2016 Olympics.

China’s last twelve months have had a lot of ups and downs. They’ve had wins against teams like South Korea, Cameroon and Russia. They even tied the Netherlands at the Algarve Cup. However they’ve also had losses to France, Denmark, Norway, Japan and the United States. France 2019 will be the place for them to show the world what they’re made of.

Spain Fixed-Spain (13): Spain’s women’s team is a team just starting to enter the stage of women’s football. In fact their appearance at Canada 2015 was their very first WWC. It was a learning experience for them as they left with two losses and a draw. In the women’s Euro, they did have one semifinals appearance all the way back in 1997. They were able to qualify for the last two Euros and finish in the quarterfinals both times. However the most recent Euro was another case of scraping by as their only win came against Portugal.

In the last twelve months, Spain has shown that they’ve made a lot of improvement. They may have lost to Poland, England and the United States, but they did achieve draws against Canada and Germany, and they also won against Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Brazil. France is the arena for them to prove themselves once more.

South-Africa-flag.jpg-South Africa (49): South Africa is one of four teams making their Women’s World Cup debut. South Africa has competed in the Olympics twice in 2012 and 2016. South Africa has also been runner-up five times in the CAF Women’s Championship.

South Africa will be coming to France with a lot to prove. They’re one of the lowest ranked teams in the world competing in France. In 2019, they have yet to win a game, enduring losses to the United States and the Netherlands. However they did draw against Jamaica and Sweden. It’s quite possible South Africa is just a team that hasn’t proved themselves and France 2019 could be the domain to show how much they can do.

MY GROUP PLAY PREDICTIONS:

This is one of the easier ones to predict. I’ll have to say I predict Germany to top with China in second. I anticipate Spain to take third.

And there’s my take on Group B. I aim to have all my takes on the groups completed by Wednesday. Which means I’m planning Group C’s focus tomorrow. Stay tuned.