Kavi

Easily the best of the live-action shorts (but not my favorite):

Data
Title: "Kavi"
Year: 2009
Length: 19 minutes
Director: Gregg Helvey
Writer: Gregg Helvey
Starring: Sagar Salunke
Music: Patrick Kirst, Paul Z. Livingstone
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Short (live action)

My reaction
Synopsis: a boy and his parents are slaves working in a kiln
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Concept: Indifferent.
Story: Good.
Characters: Indifferent. The scenario is too extreme to really allow for any subtlety in a twenty-minute film.
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Great.
Music: Good.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good). Strong tension, very engaging. It's the only of the live-action nominees that really seems to succeed at what it's trying to do, without any notable faults. I'm not personally crazy about it, but it's the sort of movie where you watch it and think, this director is going to be a great filmmaker.
Objective Rating: 3.1/4 (Very good).