Asad

A coming of age fable of a Somali boy as he struggles to survive in his war-torn land.

Set in a war-torn fishing village in Somalia, an all-Somali, refugee cast brings to life this coming of age fable of a Somali

boy who is faced with falling into the pirate life, or rising above to choose the path of an honest fishing man.

Peter Howell: Asad (Bryan Buckley): For desperate Somali refugees, the choices for survival can be as simple as becoming a fisherman or as hard as becoming a pirate. Director Bryan Buckley uses real-life Somali refugees for this briskly told story of a young boy’s moral and life dilemmas, which features some disturbing images but also a surprise ending.

Steve Pond:
Director Buckley is known as the king of Super Bowl commercials, but he's turned far from the booming glitz of those ads and recruited a cast of Somali refugees for this story of a young man who must choose between becoming a fisherman or following the more lucrative path to piracy. Somali piracy – young boy torn between the lucrative life of fishing and the more demanding life of fisherman.

The connection to real-world events gives the film a punch it would not otherwise have; Buckley has told the story quietly, focusing on performances from his largely amateur actors and never hyping the drama of the situation. This is the one nominated short that does have something of a twist ending.
My take:
Likeliest winners: "Death of a Shadow," "Curfew"
If voters go for the real world: "Asad," "Buzkashi Boys"
If "Amour" creates a bandwagon effect: "Henry"