Five Films by Columbia Filmmakers Shortlisted For 2021 Academy Awards

Five projects by Columbia filmmakers have been shortlisted at this year’s 93rd edition of the Academy Awards. They are: Dick Johson is Dead, The Truffle Hunters, I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí), Bittu, and The Present.

Both Dick Johnson is Dead, co-produced by Associate Professor and Chair of the Creative Producing Concentration Maureen A. Ryan and Adjunct Assistant Professor Marilyn Ness, and The Truffle Hunters, co-directed and produced by alumnus Gregory Kershaw '11, were named as two of the fifteen films contending for a nomination in the Documentary Feature category. I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí), written and directed by alumnus Fernando Frias de la Parra '15 and produced by alumnus Gerry Kim '11 secured a shortlist spot in the Best International Feature Film category. Bittu, a short film edited by alumnus Colin Elliot '12, and The Present, with Annemarie Jacir '02 as editing supervisor, are shortlisted in the Live Action Short Film category.

All of the projects have been strong contenders on the festival circuit and this year’s award season.

Dick Johnson is Dead was recently nominated for the Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Producer of a Documentary Motion Picture, the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, and was selected as one of the National Board of Review's Top 5 Documentaries of 2020. Last year, the film won the Critics Choice Association Documentary Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and was named Indiewire's Best Documentary of 2020.

In addition to Ryan and Ness, many Columbia filmmakers were involved in the project including Michael Toscano ’12, Assistant Director; John Wakayama Carey ’14, Director of Photography; Adjunct Assistant Professor Sarah Seulki Oh, Production Manager; Joshua Ryan Troxler ’18, Production Coordinator; Mahak Jiwani ’18, Production Coordinator; Kristy Richman ’19, Production Coordinator/Extras Casting; Markus Kirschner ’09, Production; Federica Gianni ’17, Media Manager; Ewing Luo ’18, Production; Frank Liu ’19, Production Assistant; student Alex Yarber, Production Assistant; Jaclyn Noel ’19, Production Assistant; and Christina Wood ’19, Production Assistant.

Dick Johnson is Dead is  darkly sardonic and whimsically imaginative story presented as a clandestine love letter from a daughter to a father, which toggles between fact and fiction to create a festive exploration of how film gives us the artistic tools to cope with life’s obstacles.

The Truffle Hunters premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year and has since moved on to receive a nomination for the Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Producer of a Documentary Motion Picture. It was also recently selected as one of the National Board of Review's Top 5 Documentaries of 2020. 

The Truffle Hunters is set deep in the forests of Northern Italy where the prized white Alba truffle resides. Desired by the wealthiest patrons in the world, it remains a pungent but rarified mystery. It cannot be cultivated or found, even by the most resourceful of modern excavators. The only souls on earth who know how to dig it up are a tiny circle of canines and their silver-haired human companions—Italian elders with walking sticks and devilish senses of humor—who only scour for the truffle at night.

I'm No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aqui) made waves when it won ten Ariel awards, Mexico’s most prestigious prize in the industry. It was also nominated for Best Ibero-American Film at the Goya Awards. It was recently highlighted on NPR, and the director, Frias was interviewed about the film by Hollywood Reporter. In addition, the producer, Kim was nominated for the upcoming Film Independent Spirit Producers Award which honors emerging producers. 

Set in Monterrey, Mexico, I’m No Longer Here​ (Ya No Estoy Aquí) follows a young street gang that spends its days dancing to slowed-down cumbia and attending parties. After a mix-up with a local cartel, their leader is forced to migrate to the US but quickly longs to return home.

Bittu previously won the Silver Medal at the 2020 Student Academy Awards. It’s based on a true story that follows the close friendship between two girls eclipsed by an accidental poisoning at school.

The Present is a short film that won more than 20 awards at film festivals over the last year, including Best International Short and the Audience Award at the Palm Springs International ShortFest and the Best Short Film Award at the Cleveland International Film Festival. The Present follows Yusef and his young daughter who set out in the West Bank to buy a wedding gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping? 

So far, the academy has only released shortlists in nine of the 23 categories. More nominations for Columbia filmmakers may still be on the horizon! 
 

The final Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, 2021.