Hey Nonny to show Academy Award nominated short films
The 2025 Academy Awards are just a few weeks away and film lovers are busy watching the movies that have garnered nominations in top categories including Best Picture. While that is an annual exercise for some, Chip Brooks, co-owner of Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights, is wondering how many people have viewed “Magic Candles,” “Yuck!,” “A Lien” or “I’m Not a Robot.” Those are all Oscar-nominated films in the Animated Short or Live Action Short categories, and Brooks plans to make it easy to see them.
Along with the Arlington Heights Arts Commission, Hey Nonny will be showing the films nominated as Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at a special showing on Feb. 22.
“We are all about art and a variety of genres in music so why not extend our brand to a mini-film festival?” Brooks asked. “We are excited to be partnering with the Arts Commission to bring these unique film projects to our venue. It will be fun to stretch our wings a bit and cross over into film for a day.”
There are five films in each category and patrons can enjoy all 10 for $25. The Animated Shorts will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the Live Action nominees will be shown from 1:10 to 3 p.m.
“The longest film in either category is 28 minutes,” Brooks said. “Some are as short as 13 minutes, and they come from nine different countries. Serious film enthusiasts will really enjoy the opportunity to be immersed in the broad display of filmmaking. Many of the biggest names in Hollywood movies got their start doing short films. Who knows what these artists may have in store in the future?”
Patrons can also enjoy a lunch buffet for another $30. Attendance is limited to 100.
Brooks noted that many of the films were produced in native languages so any film with foreign dialogue will have subtitles.
“Some of the nominees for Best Picture run two-and-a-half or three plus hours,” Brooks said. “We can show all 10 of the short films in about that length of time. If you’re an Oscar viewer who usually grabs another plate of food while these awards are given why not make the time to view them and have a bit more of a rooting interest in the winner?”
The nominated films are:
Animated Shorts
• “Beautiful Men”: Nicolas Keppens, 18 minutes, Belgium/France/Netherlands (in Flemish, Dutch, Turkish, and English)
• “In the Shadow of the Cypress”: Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, 20 minutes, Iran (no dialogue)
• “Magic Candies”: Daisuke Nishio, 21 minutes, Japan (in Japanese)
• “Wander to Wonder”: Nina Gantz, 14 minutes, Netherlands/Belgium/France/UK (in English)
• “Yuck!”: Loïc Espuche, 13 minutes, France (in French)
Live Action Shorts
• “A Lien”: Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz, 15 minutes, USA (in English)
• “Anuja”: Adam J. Graves, 22 minutes, USA (in Hindi)
• “I’m Not a Robot”: Victoria Warmerdam, 22 minutes, Belgium/Netherlands (in Dutch)
• “The Last Ranger”: Cindy Lee, 28 minutes, South Africa (in Xhosa)
• “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”: Nebojsa Slijepcevic, 13 minutes, Croatia (in Croatian)
Tickets are available at heynonny.com/shows/oscar-nominated-short-films-showing.
Hey Nonny is a bistro and music venue located in the heart of downtown Arlington Heights. The bistro serves an array of fresh seasonal Midwestern comfort-food-with-a-twist and a seasonally changing menu. The venue hosts live music six days a week, featuring the best Chicago and touring acts playing jazz, blues, country, folk and rock.