"Blind Vaysha" is an animated 8-minute short film from 2016 that was directed by Theodore Ushev. The latter, a Bulgarian-born filmmaker, is also the one who adapted the original work by Georgi Gospodinov for the screen here. With these names and origins, you certainly would not expect this to be a Canadian movie in the English language. The National Film Board of Canada sure has come a long way if you look at their works from decades ago. But they have always been successful with the Academy, so it is not too surprising that this one here was also nominated for an Oscar. How much you like the animation style is of course always subjective. For me it was good without being great and clearly inferior to "Piper". But in terms of the plot and story, "Blind Vaysha" is far ahead of that one and probably also the rest of the competition. The idea of this disability (that's what it is and what it is rightfully called in the film) is a great one and result in the film oozing creativity. Sadly, I must say I did not like the way the fourth wall was broken at the very end and it went really strongly against the tone and story from everything before that, so I wished this film could have ended after 6 minutes with better closure. I still recommend it though and I also think it's the best from the three nominated animated short films I have seen so far. Lets see if prolific short film maker Ushev finally moves on to full features anytime soon. I think the character of Vaysha certainly would work as well with a 90-minute movie.

Blind Vaysha (2016) ** 1/2 (out of 4) This short was nominated for Oscar's Best Animated Short and it's certainly much darker than the other nominees. This one here tells the story of Vaysha, a young girl who was born with two very different eyes. Her left eye can only see the past while her right eye can only see the future. This here puts her into a dilemma on how to live the rest of her life.I'm not going to say BLIND VAYSHA was a bad movie but I didn't think it was worthy of an Oscar-nomination. It certainly wasn't better than the other nominated movies but at the same time I can respect it for trying to do something a tad bit different. This really plays out like a dark fairy tale and the animation is quite dark itself. I thought the film was visually impressive and the story had some interesting ideas but I just didn't think it ever really came to life. I also didn't care too much for the narration, which lasted throughout the picture.

This is one of two Canadian nominees (the other being Pear Cider and Cigarettes). It's sort of like a very, very dark modern fairy tale. It's a strange tale about a little girl born with two very strange eyes. Through one, she can only see the past and with the other she can only see the future. So, for example, when she sees an adult, they appear in one eye as a small child and in the other incredibly elderly and feeble. As to what all this means, well I was left wondering this when the film ended.As far as the animation goes, you'll either love it or hate it and it strongly accentuated the darkness of the story. It certainly is NOT a pretty film to watch and many of the animations are a bit horrifying to watch. Like too many shorts this year, I did wonder why it was nominated as well as feeling a bit depressed after seeing it.I think "Blind Vaysha" is very unlikely to take home the Oscar, as "Piper" is much more of a crowd pleaser and it s sweet little film...without the dark edges the other nominees all see to have in spades!

This animated short, nominated for an Oscar in that category, is an interesting affair. It does not seem right to me for this meditation on a girl who sees the future with one eye and the past with the other, to win, but I have old-fashioned tastes.It is a very interesting effort, mostly for the quality of its visuals, which resemble wood-cuts rather than other, more conventional drawings or computer animation. This is clearly intended to offer some visual gloss on the subject, which is about how difficult it is to see only the past and the future, but never to exist in the moment, I have no idea how it does so, but it is a pleasant change from the more usual techniques.