Head Over Heels, the only student film up for an Oscar this year, has joined the list of animated short film contenders that can be seen online in advance of the Feb. 24 Academy Awards.
The 10-minute Heels was written and directed by Timothy Reckart, 26, a student at the U.K.’s renowned National Film and Television School.
Inspired by a Rembrandt painting, the film uses stop-animation to capture the emotional distance between a long-married husband and wife — illustrated by one living on the ceiling and one living on the floor. It’s available on YouTube through Feb. 24, the day of the Academy Awards.
Heels, produced by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, is the third NFTS film to be nominated in the animated short film category since 2005. The school’s graduates include cinematographer Roger Deakins, composer Dario Marianelli (both also nominated this year) and Oscar winner Nick Park.
On Saturday, Heels won the inaugural best student film honor at the 40th annual Annie Awards.
Three of Heels’ competitors in the category — Paperman from Disney, producer-director Minkyu Lee’s independently financed Adam and Dog and Fresh Guacamole from PES — can also be seen online. Fox’s Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’ is the lone holdout.
