Oscar-nominated short film Bao offers savoury bite of Canadian filmmaker's childhood culture

The Academy Award-nominated animated short film, Bao, is putting a spotlight on Canadian director Domee Shi, but when it comes to the Oscars, there are far more pressing questions.

"What do I wear? What's going to happen? What are the after parties like?" she asks, adding in a question that fits right in with her story. "Is the food good?"

Pixar's Bao, which played on theatre screens in 2018 before the main showcase, The Incredibles 2, is an eight-minute animation morsel about an empty-nester granted a second chance when one of her dumplings springs to life. The film is an homage to aging parents, Chinese culture and Shi's multicultural hometown of Toronto.

"I'm so happy it gets more exposure now and more people get to know what a dumpling is all about, or what a dumpling is, or what the inside of a Chinese mom's house looks like in Scarborough, or what the TTC looks like," she said. 

3 Canadian nominations, 1 category

Bao will compete against four others in the animated short category — which is dominated by Canadian talent. Animal Behaviour, about a group therapy session for creatures, was created by Vancouver's David Fine and Alison Snowden and Weekends, set in 1980s Toronto, is by Canadian-born director Trevor Jimenez.

Shi was the first woman in Pixar's history to direct a short film. The animation studio, a subsidiary of Disney, faced scrutiny last year after its co-founder and head, John Lasseter, stepped down following misconduct claims he later acknowledged as "missteps" in his behaviour. Lasseter was an executive producer on Bao, but Shi says most of her dealings were with another executive producer, Pete Docter, who she says served as a mentor. 

Bao's success is now serving as a springboard for a larger project: A full-length movie Shi is in the process of writing and story-boarding.

"I feel like Bao was a great training ground for me to be able to tackle a feature film. But when I first started this feature, it's like, 'whoa,'" she said. "Now I have an hour and a half to tell a more complex, bigger narrative."

Walking the red carpet

While she's on her way to becoming a seasoned animation director, having worked previously on hit animated films such as Inside Out and Toy Story 4, her exposure to Hollywood's red carpets is much more dim.

Is there, like, one for the actual celebrities and one for the 'norm-ies' like me?- Domee Shi, asking about the Oscars red carpet 

"Is there, like, one for the actual celebrities and one for the 'norm-ies' like me?" she asks her publicist.

When she's told there's only one and that she will in fact be walking the same red carpet as all the A-listers in attendance, it's the prospect of encountering other filmmakers — not stars — that has her beaming.

"The guys that made the new Spider-Man, the animated feature," she said. "I'm excited to meet them because that's been one of my favourite animated films this year."

Shi adds with a laugh: "I will be going down the same [carpet] as the actual important people."