Movie review: Oscar-nominated short documentaries, screening tonight-Thursday at Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Aspiring artist Inocente, 15, of San Diego, Calif., is the subject of the Oscar-nominated short documentary "Inocente."

A version of this review will appear in Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman. 4 of 4 stars.

Movie review: Oscar-nominated short documentaries
Despite their brief runtimes — each one clocks in at 40 minutes or less — the films earn their Academy Award honors by powerfully pairing real faces and true stories with weighty social issues.

This year’s Oscar-nominated short documentaries serve up potent slices of life that can be a little difficult to swallow because of the lumps they put in your throat

Despite their brief runtimes — each one clocks in at 40 minutes or less — the films earn their Academy Award honors by powerfully pairing real faces and true stories with weighty social issues.

Angelique, a 6-year-old Rwandan girl, prepares to undergo life-saving heart surgery 2,500 miles from home in the Oscar-nominated short documentary "Open Heart."

As part of its Oscar Tune Up, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is showing all five nominated short documentaries at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (today), Wednesday and Thursday at its Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive. For more information, go to www.okcmoa.com/see/films.

My favorite of the nominees, the biographical short “Inocente,” delves into homelessness and touches on illegal immigration as it chronicles the toils and triumphs of the title character, a 15-year-old aspiring artist from San Diego, Calif. Her undocumented, fatherless family bounces from various homeless shelters and cheap apartments as her mother struggles to provide for Inocente and her two younger brothers.

Through a nonprofit program called A Reason to Survive — or ARTS — Inocente is given a chance to develop a charming, self-confident personality along with a vibrant, vividly hued painting style.