The New York Times isn’t all about serious journalism these days. The newspaper has gone into the filmmaking business, picking 11 actors and actresses who are in the awards discussion this year to appear in short films written by top talent.
Each short runs barely over a minute. The actors that participated include Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave). The talent behind the camera features Spike Jonze (Her), Lake Bell (In A World...), Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha) and J.C. Chandor (All Is Lost).
According to Entertainment Weekly, the one link between all the shorts is that they were directed by Janusz Kaminski, who won Oscars for his cinematography on Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. “Most of the vignettes are slightly whimsical and off-center,” he noted in a behind the scenes video.
Here is Winfrey’s:
Here’s a fun one with Robert Redford:
Below is Kaminski's behind the scenes video:
image: screenshot