Only one of the animated films and none of the live-action shorts are by American directors. The finalists come from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, India and Britain. (The Student Oscar winner saves the day; it's from filmmakers at the New York University film school.)

Also a trend: One of the animated nominees and three of the four live-action films are about children who are neglected or in danger.

And the nominees are:

LIVE ACTION SHORT SUBJECTS

"Wasp," from the UK, directed by Andrea Arnold, is a heartbreaking and angering 23-minute drama about a single mother and her four children, one a baby. She fears having the children taken away from her, and with good reason: During a long day and night, she chats up a former boyfriend, claims she is only baby-sitting the children, takes them home and finds only white sugar from a bag to feed them. Then she brings them along to the pub where she's meeting the boyfriend, parking them outside and rushing out to give them potato chips and a Coke, "to share around." Hour follows hour as she plays pool and is sweet-talked by her date, while the kids wait outside, sad and hungry. The film is notable above all for not underlining its points, but simply making them: This woman should not be a mother, and these children should not have these lives.

"7:35 in the Morning," from Spain, directed by Nacho Vigalondo, is an odd and haunting eight-minute film that begins with a woman entering a cafe and sitting down with coffee and a pastry. She notices two musicians standing by the back wall. "What's with that?" she asks the owner, who does not answer. The customers all seem stiff, frightened, uncertain. A man appears and begins to sing a song about the woman, her coffee and pastry, and his thoughts about her. The customers and employees have already been rehearsed, and sing parts of the song from lyrics cupped in their hands. Then there is a scene where, frightened and awkward, they dance. The reason for their behavior eventually becomes clear, and terrifying.

"Little Terrorist," from India, directed by Ashvin Kumar, takes place along the border between India and Pakistan. A young boy crawls beneath a barbed-wire fence and enters a mine field in order to retrieve a cricket ball. Guards, who cannot see how young he is, fire warning shots and he runs in fear to the other side of the field. Now he is in another country. A village schoolmaster and his niece give him shelter and a quick alibi during a house-to-house search, but now he must get back home. In 15 minutes, the film builds genuine and poignant drama.

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