Every day new animated shorts qualify for the year-end quest for the big golden bald statuette. Keeping tab of all these amazing projects is not for the weak of heart. Nevertheless, we have compiled this very preliminary list of the shorts that have won qualifying prizes at the world’s top film festivals or booked theatrical screening engagements to be officially considered by the Academy for the Best Animated Short Oscar. The official Oscar Shortlist of 15 titles will be announced on Tuesday, December 16. Our contenders’ list is by no means a definitive one, so we ask you to visit our website for daily updates and additions. Let’s not forget that landing on this long list is a remarkable achievement on its own and represents many years of hard work and artists’ blood, sweat and tears.
This dossier will be updated online until the official shortlist is announced. If you are the director, producer or distributor of a qualifying animated short not yet included here, email us at edit@animationmagazine.net with your info, and we’ll be happy to add you to the list.
Ahimsa
Country: U.S.
Directed by: Craig Lew
Produced by: Craig Lew; Genius Bot Media
Synopsis: In a world shattered by warring AI armies, a prompt engineer and a cyber warrior race to upload a recording of children meditating that is so powerful it could stop the last weaponized AI faction from gaining ultimate power. Hope emerges not through conflict, but through the birth of a new AI trained for benevolence named Ahimsa.
Always & Forever
Country: The Netherlands
Directed by: Shanice Kamminga
Produced by: Family Affair Films
Synopsis: Always & Forever is a journey through the lives of different generations within a single house. From the aristocratic family in the 17th century up until a modern couple in the 2020s. The house’s interior transforms through time and new families come and go.
Qualified by exhibition.
All Heart
Country: U.S.
Directed by: Michael Govier and Will McCormack
Produced by: Michael Govier, Will McCormack, Kimberly Dennison, Justin Lacob, Carly Burgess
Synopsis: Tells the deeply emotional story of a father’s journey to visit a young man with an extraordinary connection to his late daughter.
Qualified by exhibition.
Autokar
Countries: Belgium, France
Directed by: Sylwia Szkiłądź
Produced by: Jérémie Mazurek, Christophe Beaujean, Mathieu Rolin, Viviane Vanfleteren, Marc Faye; Amopix, OZÙ Productions, Novanima, Vivi Film
Synopsis: In the ’90s, a little girl named Agata leaves Poland for Belgium. Anxious about her journey, she writes a letter to her father back home to pass the time, but she drops and loses her pencil on the bus. She wanders between the seats in search of the pencil, plunging into a fantastic world populated by strange half-human, half-animal passengers.
Qualifying wins: Grand Jury Prize (Golden Pegasus) at Animator International Animated Film Festival (Poland); Gold Hugo – Animated at Chicago International Film Festival
Autopollo
Country: Costa Rica
Directed by: Julian Gallese
Produced by: Julian Gallese; HQI
Synopsis: A small group of friends enjoy a ride around a mysterious hamlet.
Qualifying win: Latin American Animated Short Film at BitBang International Animation Festival (Argentina)
Balconies (Balconada)
Country: Bulgaria
Directed by: Iva Tokmakchieva
Produced by: Vessela Dantcheva, Kamelia Tavitian; Compote Collective
Synopsis: A hot summer day brings several neighbors out on their balconies. During a sudden rainstorm, one of them gets a burst of inspiration, which encourages the rest to live in the moment.
A Bird’s Wish
Countries: Israel, Switzerland
Directed by: Gan de Lange
Produced by: Gan de Lange, Ariel Rosenstein and Kobi Mizrahi; Kobi Mizrahi Productions
Synopsis: This is the story of a bird that could not lay an egg. What price will she pay to finally become a mother?
Qualifying win: Ophir Award for Best Short Animation Film (Israel)
Black Man, Black Man
Country: U.S.
Directed by: Frank Abney
Produced by: Hodge Brothers Productions
Synopsis: From the moment he wakes up, Elliott gets closer to confronting the child within. Carrying the weight of the feelings he wrestles with inside, reminders echo through his mind as affirmations to carry him through each moment, bringing healing and a path forward to reclaiming his worth.
Qualified by exhibition.
The Black Stain
Country: Mexico
Directed by: Yareni Velázquez Mendoza
Produced by: María Inés Roqué
Synopsis: The black spot tells the story of Marlene’s transformation, a woman who in her youth embraced darkness as a true expression of her being and soul. However, the adversities she faced in life allowed her to give that darkness a new meaning.
Qualifying win: Ojo for Best Mexican Animated Short Film at Morelia International Film Festival (Mexico)
Brown Morning
Countries: Luxembourg, France
Directed by: Carlo Vogele
Produced by: David Mouraire, Emmanuelle Vincent; Doghouse Films, Autour de Minuit
Synopsis: From minor compromises to major cowardice, brown animals gradually invade homes and take control. An authoritarian power with absurd laws is being established. To stay out of trouble, Charly bends to the rules of this colorless world and discovers the horror of fascism the hard way.
Bound
Countries: U.S.A., Ukraine, Germany
Directed by: Masha Martynenko Ellsworth
Produced by: Masha Martynenko Ellsworth; Pixar Animation Studios co-op program
Synopsis: Against a backdrop of pastoral beauty, Ivanko and Galya must navigate a maze of miscommunications and pride, leaving them to question whether their love can truly blossom.
Qualified by exhibition.
Budō
Country: Sweden
Directed by: Alexander Toma, Amanda Aagard
Produced by: Alexander Toma, Amanda Aagard; Amsaga, Film I Väst
Synopsis: On a lonely widow’s daily trip to the supermarket, she meets a stray cat. It follows her home and soon makes itself more comfortable in her small Tokyo apartment than she could have ever imagined.
Qualifying win: Best Animation Short at Palm Springs International ShortFest
The Burial of Natty Bumppo
Country:
Directed by: Fred Burns
Produced by: Casey Herbert
Synopsis: The Burial of Natty Bumppo is the result of a decades-long project by animator Fred Burns. Built from over 28,000 hand-drawn images, it almost never made it to the screen. In 2019, the film was rescued, restored and digitally mastered by filmmaker Casey Herbert. The film draws on 19th-century cultural images of American innocence to reveal their grotesque outcomes: the enslavement of human beings and enslavement of the land, the genocide that accompanied colonization, and the environmental degradation resulting from industrialization.
Butterfly (Papillon)
Country: France
Directed by: Florence Miailhe
Produced by: Ron Dyens, Claire Maillard, Luc Camilli; Sacrebleu Productions, XBO Films
Synopsis: In the sea, a man swims. As he swims, memories come to the surface. From his early childhood to his life as a man, all his memories are linked to water. Some are happy, others glorious, others traumatic. This story will be his last swim.
Qualifying win: Grand Prix (International Competition) at Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (Germany)
Butterfly Kiss
Countries: Germany, Israel
Directed by: Zohar Dvir
Produced by: Amit Russell Gicelter, Fabian Driehorst; Fabian&Fred, the Hive Studio
Synopsis: Carol panics and quarrels with her girlfriend, Ray, after an unexpected proposal. The situation worsens when she wakes up to an apocalyptic reality and discovers that Ray has transformed into a butterfly.
Qualifying win: Golden Hugo (Animated Short Film Competition) at Chicago International Film Festival
Cafunè
Country: Spain
Directed by: Carlos F. de Vigo, Lorena Ares
Produced by: Carlos Fernández de Vigo, Sergy Moreno, Mintxo Díaz, Damián Perea; New Gravity Laws SL, White Leaf Producciones, Damian Perea Producciones
Synopsis: Alma, a solitary refugee child, is thrust back into her traumatic past when her doll falls into the swimming pool, mirroring the shipwreck of the refugee boat where she was the lone survivor. Luna, her savior, steps in to help her overcome her trauma and rebuild her life.
Qualifying win: Best Animated Short Film at the Goya Awards (Spain)
Cardboard
Country: U.K.
Directed by: J.P. Vine
Produced by: Michaela Manas Malina
Synopsis: When an overwhelmed single dad moves his piglets into a trailer park, his kids invent a wildly imaginative game to embrace the future.
Qualified by exhibition.
Como Si La Tierra Se Las Hubiera Tragado
(As If Swallowed by Earth)
Country: France
Directed by: Natalia León
Produced by: Luc Camilli; XBO Films
Synopsis: Olivia, a young woman living abroad, returns to her hometown in Mexico in the hope of reconnecting with her past. But the violence she witnessed as a child has not abated, and the journey rekindles memories that are impossible to reconcile with.
Qualifying wins: Best Animation at LA Shorts International Film Festival; Short Film Jury Award (Animation) at Sundance Film Festival
Criminal
Country: U.S.A.
Directed by: Robe Imbriano
Produced by: Soul Palace Studios, The Documentary Group
Synopsis: Featuring the music and lyrics of Tony Award winners Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald, the animation of Cinema Eye winner Thomas Curtis and the direction of Emmy winner Robe Imbriano, Criminal is an animated musical documentary short film that confronts the injustice of people held at the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas. The vast majority are there because they don’t have enough cash to pay their way out before trial. Because they are poor, thousands are held for months or even shipped to jails out of state when they are supposed to be presumed innocent.
Cut From the Dead
Country: Turkey
Directed by: Elif Dönmez, Deniz Koçyiğit
Produced by: Elif Dönmez, Deniz Koçyiğit
Synopsis: A bulky man with a long messy hair and beard enters a graveyard, digs up a coffin, and then drags it into an abandoned shop. There, he performs a necromantic ritual to raise the corpse from the dead. After the spell is cast, the man sits on a chair in front of a mirror while the corpse rises back to life behind him.
Qualifying win: Best National Short Animation at Izmir International Short Film Festival (Turkey)
