98th Oscars® Shortlist for Live Action Short Films (2026)
Full List with Trailers, Festival Wins & Official Qualification Paths
Last Updated: 22nd of January 2026
The Academy has officially announced the shortlist of 15 live action short films for the 98th Academy Awards. These films are now in the running for the Best Live Action Short Film award at the 2026 Oscars®. Below is the full list of the shortlisted films, including trailers, festival details, and official links where available.
For a more comprehensive look at all Oscar-qualified live action short films, see the full list here.
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List of all 15 shortlisted Live Action Short Films 2026 (alphabetical order)
- ADO by Sam Henderson (US)
- AMARELA by André Hayato Saito (Brazil) - FULL FILM AVAILABLE
- BEYOND SILENCE by Marnie Blok (Netherlands)
- THE BOY WITH WHITE SKIN by Simon Panay (France)
- BUTCHER’S STAIN by Meyer Levinson-Blount (Israel) → NOMINATED
- BUTTERFLY ON A WHEEL by Trevor Morris (Canada)
- DAD'S NOT HOME by Jan Saczek (Poland)
- EXTREMIST by Aleksandr Molochnikov (Latvia) - FULL FILM AVAILABLE
- A FRIEND OF DOROTHY by Lee Knight (UK) → NOMINATED
- JANE AUSTEN'S PERIOD DRAMA by Julia Aks & Steve Pinder (US) → NOMINATED
- PANTYHOSE by Fabian Munsterhjelm (Finland)
- THE PEARL COMB by Ali Cook (UK)
- ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS by Franz Böhm (UK)
- THE SINGERS by Sam A. Davis (US) → NOMINATED
- TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA by Alexandre Singh & Natalie Musteata (France/US) - FULL FILM AVAILABLE → NOMINATED
ADO by Sam Henderson (US)
🎬 Synopsis: Ms. Hopkins is rehearsing Much Ado About Nothing with her middle school theatre class when it is interrupted by a school shooter.
🌟 Qualified through: Best Short at BronzeLens Film Festival of Atlanta
🔗 https://www.instagram.com/ado_shortfilm/
AMARELA by André Hayato Saito (Brazil) - FULL FILM AVAILABLE
🎬 Synopsis: On the day of the 1998 World Cup final between Brazil and France, Erika Oguihara, a Japanese-Brazilian teenager who rejects her family traditions, experiences a violence that seems invisible and plunges into a painful sea of emotions.
🌟 Qualified through: Screening
🔗 https://www.instagram.com/amarelashortfilm/
🔗 https://vimeo.com/ondemand/amarela (paywall)
BEYOND SILENCE by Marnie Blok (Netherlands)
🎬 Synopsis: Two women, two generations, same trauma. One has been silent for over thirty years, the other 'only' for a year and a half. Where one decides to remain silent after a confrontation, the other finds the courage to break the silence.
🌟 Qualified through: Best Narrative Short at Tribeca Film Festival
🔗 https://www.premium-films.com/catalogue/beyond-silence
🔗 https://www.beyondsilence.film/
THE BOY WITH WHITE SKIN by Simon Panay (France)
🎬 Synopsis: Entrusted by his father to a group of gold-miners, an albino child embodies all of their hopes.
🌟 Qualified through: Grand Prix (France Télévisions) at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
🔗 https://www.theboywithwhiteskin.com/
BUTCHER’S STAIN by Meyer Levinson-Blount (Israel)
🎬 Synopsis: As a father prepares to confront the greatest tragedy of his life, memories of his past as a bare-knuckle street fighter resurface—forcing him to reckon with how this shaped the destiny of his young son.
🌟 Qualified through: Silver Medal at Student Academy Awards
BUTTERFLY ON A WHEEL by Trevor Morris (Canada)
🎬 Synopsis: A gifted music student makes his way through the world with O.C.D.
🌟 Qualified through: Screenings
🔗 https://www.butterflythefilm.com/
DAD'S NOT HOME by Jan Saczek (Poland)
🎬 Synopsis: Two underage brothers are hiding their father's frontotemporal dementia from the world. They have to take care of him and manage the household to stay together.
🌟 Qualified through: Student Academy Award
EXTREMIST by Aleksandr Molochnikov (Latvia) - FULL FILM AVAILABLE
🎬 Synopsis: A young Russian artist makes an anti-war statement by swapping food labels with pacifist messages in a Moscow supermarket, leading to her arrest and the threat of a 10-year prison sentence.
🌟 Qualified through: Jury Prize at New Hampshire Film Festival 🔗 https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/extremist
A FRIEND OF DOROTHY by Lee Knight (UK)
🎬 Synopsis: A lonely widow's quiet life is upended when a teenage boy accidentally kicks his football into her garden.
🌟 Qualified through: Screening
🔗 https://www.instagram.com/afodorothy_film/
JANE AUSTEN'S PERIOD DRAMA by Julia Aks & Steve Pinder (US)
🎬 Synopsis: England, 1813. In the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal, Miss Estrogenia Talbot gets her period. Her suitor, the dashing Mr. Dickley, mistakes the blood for an injury, and it soon becomes clear that his very expensive education has most certainly missed a spot.
🌟 Qualified through: Best Comedy at Aspen Shortsfest
🔗 https://janeaustensperioddrama.com/
PANTYHOSE by Fabian Munsterhjelm (Finland)
🎬 Synopsis: A couple are about to attend an important gala. They have their keys, phones and invitations, but there is a hole in their tights.
🌟 Qualified through: Grand Prix at Short Short Film Festival & Asia
THE PEARL COMB by Ali Cook (UK)
🎬 Synopsis: A doctor, hell-bent on proving a woman’s place is in the home and not practising medicine, is sent to investigate her miraculous claim - only to discover the source of her unearthly power…
🌟 Qualified through: Screenings
🔗 https://www.instagram.com/thepearlcombfilm/
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS by Franz Böhm (UK)
🎬 Synopsis: Based on a true story – Ivan and his father operate a makeshift hospital at the frontline of war in Ukraine, but when enemy soldiers close in, Ivan faces an impossible choice to protect his father, their patients, and everything they stand for.
🌟 Qualified through: Best British Short Film at BAFTA
🔗 https://www.rockpaperscissorsfilm.com/
THE SINGERS by Sam A. Davis (US)
🎬 Synopsis: An adaptation of a 19th-century short story by Ivan Turgenev—a lowly pub full of downtrodden men connect unexpectedly through an impromptu sing-off.
🌟 Qualified through: Best Narrative Short at Indy Shorts International Film Festival
🔗 https://www.thesingersfilm.com/
TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA by Alexandre Singh & Natalie Musteata (France/US) - FULL FILM AVAILABLE
🎬 Synopsis: In a farcical dystopian world where kissing is punishable by death, and people pay for things by receiving slaps to the face, Angine, an unhappy woman, shops compulsively in a department store. There, she becomes fascinated by a playful salesgirl, and despite the prohibition, the two become close.
🌟 Qualified through: Grand Jury Prize, Live Action Short at AFI Fest and Best Drama Short at Out on Film, Atlanta LGBTQ International Film Festival
🔗 https://www.twopeopleexchangingsaliva.com/
Live Action Short Film Shortlists (2021–2025)
Below is an overview of all live action short films shortlisted over the past five Academy Awards editions, including synopsis, production country, and qualification path.
2025 Shortlist (97th Academy Awards)
Film | Director | Country | Length | Synopsis | Qualification Path | Oscar Status |
I'm Not a Robot | Victoria Warmerdam | Netherlands/Belgium | 22 min | Music producer Lara fails a CAPTCHA test repeatedly and begins an existential crisis questioning whether she might actually be a robot | Sitges Fantastic Film Festival - Best Short Film | WINNER |
Anuja | Adam J. Graves | India/USA | 22 min | A gifted 9-year-old girl working with her sister in a textile factory receives a chance at education and must make a heartbreaking choice | HollyShorts Film Festival - Best Live Action Short | Nominated |
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent | Nebojša Slijepčević | Croatia/Bulgaria/France/Slovenia | 13 min | Based on true events from 1993: A passenger train is stopped by Serbian paramilitaries. Of 500 passengers, only Tomo Buzov dares to resist | Cannes - Short Film Palme d'Or | Nominated |
A Lien | Sam & David Cutler-Kreutz | USA | 15 min | On the day of their green card interview, a young family with their daughter faces ICE agents who unexpectedly appear at the USCIS office | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
The Last Ranger | Cindy Lee | South Africa/USA | 28 min | Young Litha is guided through a wildlife reserve by ranger Khuselwa until they're ambushed by poachers. Inspired by rhino survivor Thandi's story | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
Dovecote | Marco Perego | Italy/USA | 15 min | With Zoe Saldaña: A woman experiences her final moments before release from a women's prison on an island in the Venetian lagoon | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
An Orange from Jaffa | Mohammed Almughanni | Palestine/Poland/France | 22 min | Mohammed, a young Palestinian with Polish residency, desperately seeks a taxi to cross an Israeli checkpoint | Clermont-Ferrand Int'l Short Film Festival - Grand Prix | Shortlisted |
Paris 70 | Dani Feixas | Spain | 15 min | Jan cares for his mother Angela who has advanced Alzheimer's. Exhausted by daily grief, he tells her a white lie about her deceased father | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
The Ice Cream Man | Robert Moniot | USA/Netherlands | 33 min | Shortly after Nazi invasion, Jewish ice cream shop owner Ernst Cahn is targeted by Klaus Barbie. His execution triggered the February Strike of 1941 | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Room Taken | TJ O'Grady-Peyton | Ireland | 17 min | Isaac, a homeless Nigerian immigrant, secretly moves in with blind Victoria. Executive Producer: Colin Farrell | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Edge of Space | Jean de Meuron | Switzerland/USA | 18 min | 1961, during the space race: A USAF test pilot is recruited for a daring suborbital X-15 mission | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
The Masterpiece | Álex Lora | Spain | 19 min | A wealthy couple invites scrap metal collectors. Tensions arise when class differences and prejudices surface | Sundance -Grand Jury Prize | Shortlisted |
Clodagh | Portia A. Buckley | Ireland/UK | 16 min | Mrs. Kelly, housekeeper to an Irish priest, discovers Clodagh, a girl with extraordinary talent for Sean-nós dance | Cork International Film Festival - Grand Prix Irish Short | Shortlisted |
Crust | Jens Kevin Georg | Germany | 26 min | In a family where scars are an initiation rite, 12-year-old Fabi is long overdue. A dangerous homemade roller coaster awaits at grandpa's farm | Student Academy Award 2024 - Silver Medal (Narrative) | Shortlisted |
The Compatriot | Viktor Horák, Pavel Sýkora | Czech Republic | 25 min | New Year's Eve 1944: A Czech widower and an SS officer – both Sudeten German origin – meet during a snowstorm | Student Academy Award 2024 - Gold Medal (Narrative) | Shortlisted |
2024 Shortlist (96th Academy Awards)
Film | Director | Country | Length | Synopsis | Qualification Path | Oscar Status |
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar | Wes Anderson | USA/UK | 37 min | Henry Sugar discovers a book about a guru who can see without eyes. He masters this ability and uses it for gambling – with unexpected consequences.Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | WINNER |
The After | Misan Harriman | UK | 18 min | Dayo (David Oyelowo), a grieving rideshare driver in London, struggles to find himself after an attack killed his wife and daughter | HollyShorts - Best Live Action Short | Nominated |
Invincible | Vincent René-Lortie | Canada | 29 min | The last 48 hours in the life of 14-year-old Marc-Antoine Bernier desperately seeking freedom. Based on a true story about mental health | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
Knight of Fortune | Lasse Lyskjær Noer | Denmark | 25 min | Karl cannot face the loss of his beloved. A chance encounter helps him confront his grief | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
Red, White and Blue | Nazrin Choudhury | USA | 23 min | Rachel (Brittany Snow), a single mother, must cross state lines to obtain an abortion | Edmonton Film Festival - Grand Jury Award Best Short Film - Live Action | Nominated |
Strange Way of Life | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain | 31 min | After 25 years, Silva (Pedro Pascal) visits his friend Jake (Ethan Hawke), now sheriff of a Western town. A queer Western about former lovers | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
The Shepherd | Iain Softley | UK | 38 min | Christmas Eve 1957: A young RAF pilot (Ben Radcliffe) gets lost over the North Sea. A mysterious pilot (John Travolta) guides him safely. Produced by Alfonso Cuarón | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
The Anne Frank Gift Shop | Mickey Rapkin | USA | 15 min | Black comedy: A design firm presents plans to redesign the Anne Frank House shop – with questionable Gen-Z appeal | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
An Avocado Pit | Ary Zara | Portugal | 20 min | Larissa, a trans woman, and Cláudio meet at night in Lisbon. First trans director on Live Action Short Shortlist. Executive Producer: Elliot Page | Guadalajara International Film Festival, Mexico |- Best Ibero-American Short Award | Shortlisted |
Bienvenidos a Los Angeles | Lisa Cole | USA | 17 min | Imani, a Nigerian single mother in LA, helps a stranger – endangering her citizenship path. Filmed at LAX | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Dead Cat | Annie-Claude Caron, Danick Audet | Canada | 13 min | Black comedy: A cat dies. How do parents tell their daughter? Unless... | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Good Boy | Tom Stuart | UK | 15 min | Danny (Ben Whishaw) wants to change his life, but his anarchic mother (Marion Bailey) constantly disrupts. Executive Producer: Emma Thompson | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Invisible Border | Mark Gerstorfer | Austria | 27 min | Middle of the night: Police officer Nancy must deport an Albanian family without residency. The situation escalates | Student Academy Award 2023 - Gold Medal | Shortlisted |
The One Note Man | George Siougas | UK | 20 min | A bassoonist (Jason Watkins) who plays one daily note in the orchestra watches his routine life collapse. Narrated by Ian McKellen | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Yellow | Elham Ehsas | UK/Afghanistan | 15 min | In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Laili enters a Kabul shop to buy her first full-body veil | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
2023 Shortlist (95th Academy Awards)
Film | Director | Country | Length | Synopsis | Qualification Path | Oscar Status |
An Irish Goodbye | Tom Berkeley, Ross White | UK (Northern Ireland) | 23 min | Estranged brothers Turlough and Lorcan (with Down syndrome) meet after their mother's death and discover her unfulfilled bucket list | Leuven International Short Film Festival - European Short Film Competition | WINNER |
Ivalu | Anders Walter, Pipaluk K. Jørgensen | Denmark/Greenland | 16 min | Ivalu is missing. Her little sister Pipaluk searches desperately, guided by a raven in her dreams. Based on a graphic novel about abuse | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
Le Pupille | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy | 37 min | WWII, Catholic boarding school: Young Serafina draws the wrath of the Mother Superior. A giant red cake at Christmas triggers unexpected conflict. Produced by Alfonso Cuarón | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
Night Ride | Eirik Tveiten | Norway | 16 min | Ebba, a woman with dwarfism, accidentally hijacks a tram and witnesses a trans woman being harassed. She must decide whether to intervene | Tribeca Film Festival 2022 - Best Narrative Short | Nominated |
The Red Suitcase | Cyrus Neshvad | Luxembourg | 18 min | At Luxembourg Airport, a 16-year-old Iranian girl hesitates to take her red suitcase from the baggage claim – fleeing an arranged marriage | Foyle Film Festival - Best International Short Film | Nominated |
All in Favor | Santiago Requejo | Spain | 12 min | A homeowners' meeting votes on an elevator – until someone mentions selling to a mentally ill person. Shot in one take | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Almost Home | Nils Keller | Germany | 30 min | After two years on a spaceship with his mother, teenager Jakob is finally supposed to return to Earth – but a virus outbreak threatens the plan | Student Academy Award 2022 - Gold Medal | Shortlisted |
The Lone Wolf | Filipe Melo | Portugal | 23 min | During a late-night radio show, host Vitor receives a call from an old friend. Shot in one take | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Nakam | Andreas Kessler | Germany | 33 min | Ukraine 1942: 12-year-old Jewish orphan Mitka plays violin for Germans and secretly works with partisans. Based on Motele Schlein, whose violin is preserved at Yad Vashem | Cleveland International Film Festival - Best Live Action Short | Shortlisted |
Plastic Killer | Jose Pozo | Spain/Andorra | 21 min | Amparo lives with a plastic bag she believes is her daughter. When an anti-plastic activist appears, the situation escalates. Satirical black comedy | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
The Right Words | Adrian Moyse Dullin | France | 15 min | On the school bus, 15-year-old Kenza torments her brother Mahdi to confess his feelings – and posts his poems on Snapchat | Palm Springs International ShortFest - Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under | Shortlisted |
Sideral | Carlos Segundo | Brazil/France | 16 min | As Brazil launches its first manned rocket, a cleaning woman dreams of other horizons. Shot in black and white with a Fujifilm pocket camera | Chicago International Film Festival - Gold Hugo: Live Action Short Film Competition | Shortlisted |
The Treatment | Álvaro Carmona | Spain | 9 min | Miguel visits a clinic to solve his hair loss problem – with problematic side effects. Satirical black comedy | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Tula | Beatriz de Silva | Spain (Basque Country) | 12 min | Cleaning woman Tula meets the scared 14-year-old daughter of the headmistress in a conservative girls' school bathroom | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Warsha | Dania Bdeir | Lebanon/France | 16 min | In Beirut, Syrian migrant Mohammad volunteers for the most dangerous crane. In the cabin's isolation, he lives out his secret passion for dance | Sundance - Jury Award | Shortlisted |
2022 Shortlist (94th Academy Awards)
Film | Director | Country | Length | Synopsis | Qualification Path | Oscar Status |
The Long Goodbye | Aneil Karia | UK | 12 min | Riz Ahmed and his family prepare a celebration when a far-right march ends at their doorstep – with devastating consequences | HollyShorts Film Festival 2021 - Grand Prix Best Short Film | WINNER |
Ala Kachuu - Take and Run | Maria Brendle | Switzerland/Kyrgyzstan | 38 min | 19-year-old Sezim dreams of studying but is kidnapped and forced to marry – through the tradition of "bride kidnapping" | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
The Dress | Tadeusz Łysiak | Poland | 30 min | Julia, a woman with dwarfism, works as a chambermaid in a rundown motel. A handsome truck driver awakens her suppressed desires | Atlanta Film Festival - Best Narrative Short | Nominated |
On My Mind | Martin Strange-Hansen | Denmark | 18 min | Henrik desperately wants to sing Elvis' "Always On My Mind" at karaoke. The bartender gradually realizes the true reason for his urgency | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
Please Hold | K.D. Dávila | USA | 19 min | Near future: Young Latino Mateo is falsely arrested by a police drone and must navigate a fully automated, privatized prison | Florida Film Festival - Grand Jury Award | Nominated |
Censor of Dreams | Léo Berne, Raphaël Rodriguez | France | 17 min | Based on Freud's theory: A "censor" shapes a young woman's memories into dreams – until painful thoughts emerge | Warsaw Film Festival - Grand Prix | Shortlisted |
The Criminals | Serhat Karaaslan | France/Romania/Turkey | 20 min | A young Turkish couple is refused by hotels because they have no marriage certificate. The situation becomes dangerous | Palm Springs International ShortFest - Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes | Shortlisted |
Distances | Susan Béjar | Spain | 15 min | A person with mental illness enters the subway – passengers immediately create distance around them | Cleveland International Film Festival - Best Live Action Short Film | Shortlisted |
Frimas | Marianne Farley | Canada | 20 min | In a dystopian Quebec where abortion is recriminalized, Kara seeks an illegal mobile abortion service. Executive Producer: Uzo Aduba | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Les Grandes Claques | Annie St-Pierre | Canada | 18 min | Christmas Eve 1983: Julie and her cousins have eaten too much sugar, Santa is late, and Denis sits in the car, anxious about entering his ex-in-laws' house | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Stenofonen | Nicolaj Kopernikus | Denmark | 15 min | Jørn tries to gain his father's attention and love through music – but his father doesn't understand his talent | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
Tala'vision | Murad Abu Eisheh | Germany/Jordan | 27 min | 8-year-old soccer-loving Tala lives in IS-controlled Syria where TV is banned. She secretly retrieves a TV to watch Messi | Student Academy Award 2021 - Gold Medal | Shortlisted |
Under the Heavens | Gustavo Milan | Brazil | 17 min | Marta, a Venezuelan mother on her way to Brazil, meets a struggling couple with a baby. Her ability to breastfeed connects their fates | Short Shorts Tokyo - Best Short – International | Shortlisted |
When the Sun Sets | Phumi Morare | South Africa | 18 min | 1985, Apartheid South Africa: A young Black nurse learns her activist brother hasn't returned from school | Student Academy Award 2021 - Gold Medal | Shortlisted |
You're Dead Helen | Michiel Blanchart | Belgium/France | 25 min | Maxime is literally haunted by the ghost of his deceased girlfriend Hélène. He decides to break up with her – but breaking up with a ghost is difficult | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
2021 Shortlist (93rd Academy Awards)
Film | Director | Country | Length | Synopsis | Qualification Path | Oscar Status |
Two Distant Strangers | Travon Free, Martin Desmond Roe | USA | 32 min | Carter (Joey Bada$$), a Black cartoonist, is stuck in a time loop forcing him to relive fatal encounters with the same police officer | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | WINNER |
Feeling Through | Doug Roland | USA | 18 min | A homeless teenager in NYC encounters deafblind Artie who needs help. First film with a deafblind lead actor (Robert Tarango) | Bengaluru International Film Festival -Festival Award | Nominated |
The Letter Room | Elvira Lind | USA/Denmark | 33 min | Good-hearted prison guard Richard (Oscar Isaac) is transferred to the mail room where he gets too involved in a death row inmate's affairs | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Nominated |
The Present | Farah Nabulsi | Palestine | 24 min | On his anniversary, Palestinian worker Yusef and his daughter set out to buy a gift. Between soldiers and checkpoints, even this becomes torture | Cleveland International Film Festival - Best Live Action Short | Nominated |
White Eye | Tomer Shushan | Israel | 20 min | A man finds his stolen bicycle in Tel Aviv – it now belongs to an Eritrean immigrant. Shot in one take. Based on director's true experience | SXSW 2020 - Narrative Shorts Competition Jury Award | Nominated |
Bittu | Karishma Dev Dube | India/USA | 17 min | The close friendship of two girls in a forgotten Himalayan community is overshadowed by an accidental poisoning. Based on a real 2013 incident | Student Academy Award 2020 - Silver Medal | Shortlisted |
Da Yie | Anthony Nti | Ghana/Belgium | 20 min | Young Matilda and Prince are taken on a life-changing journey by a stranger named "Bogah." He's supposed to recruit children for a risky job | Clermont-Ferrand - Grand Prix + Leuven + Melbourne IFF (4 Oscar-qualifying awards) | Shortlisted |
The Human Voice | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain | 30 min | A woman (Tilda Swinton) waits beside her ex-lover's suitcases. Almodóvar's first English-language film, based on Jean Cocteau's 1930 play | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
The Kicksled Choir | Torfinn Iversen | Norway | 18 min | 10-year-old Gabriel dreams of joining the kicksled choir that raises money for refugees – until he sees his father's alarming aggression toward refugees | Chicago Int'l Children's Film Festival - Jury Award | Shortlisted |
The Van | Erenik Beqiri | France/Albania | 15 min | Ben survives another underground fight. A few more fights and he can leave Albania. He hopes his father comes along | Theatrical Qualifying Screenings | Shortlisted |
STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
Oscar Winners by Year
Year | Winner | Country | Note |
2025 | I'm Not a Robot | Netherlands | First Female Live Action Short Oscar Winner |
2024 | The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar | USA/UK | Wes Anderson's first Oscar after 8 nominations |
2023 | An Irish Goodbye | UK (N. Ireland) | Also won BAFTA and IFTA |
2022 | The Long Goodbye | UK | Riz Ahmed: first Muslim to win in this category |
2021 | Two Distant Strangers | USA | Travon Free: first Black director to win |
Country Distribution (Shortlist Appearances 2021-2025)
- USA: 15 films
- Spain: 9 films
- UK: 8 films
- Germany: 5 films
- France: 5 films (mostly co-productions)
- Denmark: 4 films
- Canada: 4 films
The "15-20 Minute Sweet Spot"
- 43% of all nominated films are 15-20 minutes
- 3 of 5 winners in this range
- Shortest winner: The Long Goodbye (12 min)
- Longest winner: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (37 min)
Related Pages:
- Complete List of Oscar-Qualified Live Action Short Films 2026
- Complete List of Oscar-Qualified Animated Short Films 2026
- How to Qualify for the Oscars (Live Action Short Films)
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