The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced shortlists in 10 categories for the 97th Academy Awards, including Animated Short Film and Visual Effects.
It was also revealed that Gints Zilbalodis’ acclaimed sophomore film Flow will be vying as the sole animated feature under consideration for International Feature Film, representing Latvia.
In the Music categories, Inside Out 2 (Pixar/Disney) and The Wild Robot (DreamWorks/Universal) are up for Original Score, while several animated features are repped in the Original Song category: “Beyond” from Moana 2 (Disney), “Piece By Piece” from Piece By Piece (Focus) and “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot.
Animation Magazine congratulates all the worthy films recognized for Animated Short and VFX this year, which are:
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Animated Short Film category for the 97th Academy Awards. Eighty-eight films qualified in the category. Academy members from the Animation Branch and Short Films Branch were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.
In the nominations round, Academy members from the Animation Branch and Short Films Branch are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.
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- Directed by: Astrid Novais, Florian Maurice, Quentin Devred, Maxime Foltzer, Estelle Bonnardel, Baptiste Duchamps (Ecole MoPA | France)
- Synopsis: As the world nears its end, a man stuck in a fish costume races against the clock towards a mysterious tower.
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- Directed by: Iain Gardner
- Produced by: Iain Harvey, Wlodzimierz Matuszewski (U.K./Poland)
- Synopsis: Displaced by World War II, a troop of Polish soldiers find an inseparable bond with an orphaned brown bear that they name Wojtek.
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- Directed by: Nicolas Keppens
- Produced by: Pierre Baussaron, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Brecht Van Elslande, Joost van den Bosch, Erik Verkerk; Miyu Productions, Animal Tank, Ka-Ching Cartoons (Belgium)
- Synopsis: Three balding brothers travel to Istanbul to get a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.
Bottle George
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- Director: Dice Tsutsumi
- Produced by: Noriko Matsumoto, Akihiro Nishino; Chimney Town, Tonko House, Dwarf (Japan / U.S.)
- Synopsis: A stop-motion animated short film about the darkness of addiction and the strength of family.
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- Directed by: Alexandra Myotte, Jean-Sébastien Hamel
- Produced by: Alexandra Myotte, Jean-Sébastien Hamel; Semaphore Films (Canada)
- Synopsis: In a run-down neighborhood, Zoe and her little brother Theo are left to fend for themselves. A young adolescent, Zoe is a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror. Theo, still a child, flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children will have to burst the abscess of their relationship so as not to lose each other.
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- Directed by: Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
Produced by: Sohani and Molayehmi; Barfak Studio (Iran)
Synopsis: A captain suffering from PTSD lives with his daughter and struggles with a harsh life. One day, something unexpected happens. It can be either more trouble or a blessing in disguise.
- Directed by: Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
Magic Candies
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- Directed by: Daisuke Nishio
- Produced by: Takashi Washio (Japan)
- Synopsis: The other kids never ask Dong-Dong to play, but he’s fine just playing marbles on his own. Until one day, he buys a bag of colorful candies and begins to discover new voices and perspectives.
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- Directed by: Torill Kove
- Produced by: Lise Fearnley, Maral Mohammadian, Tonje Skar Reiersen (Norway / Canada)
- Synopsis: The Oscar-winning director looks back at her childhood in the 1970s: Three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, find themselves in Nairobi. What could possibly go wrong?
ME
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- Director: Don Hertzfeldt (U.S.)
- Synopsis: A a 22-minute musical odyssey about trauma, technology, and the retreat of humanity into itself.
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- Director: Kei Kanamori
- Produced by: Digital Hollywood University (Japan)
- Synopsis: Using an original technique, director Kei Kanamori reproduces the shapes and textures of traditional origami in CG 3D, accurately and faithfully based on the skills and techniques applied in the traditional Japanese paper folding art.
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- Directed by: Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves
- Produced by: David Doutel, Nidia Santiago, Vasco Sá, Edwina Liard; BAP Animation Studios, IKKI Films (Portugal / France)
- Synopsis: With the sea and the urban Algarve as a background, we follow a complete cycle of the life of a special shellfish called percebes (goose barnacle). From their formation to the dish, in this journey we cross different contexts that allow us to better understand this region and those who live there.
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- Director: Tod Polson
- Produced by: MORE Productions (U.S.)
- Synopsis: A short film honoring the 21 Coptic men martyred by ISIS in Libya in 2015, produced in the style of Coptic iconography by a global team of more than 70 artists.
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- Director: Nina Gantz
- Produced by: Stienette Bosklopper, Maarten Swart, Nina Gantz (Netherlands)
- Synopsis: Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton are three tiny humans who star in a kids’ TV series called Wander to Wonder. After the creator dies, they are left alone in the studio. Struggling to find enough to eat, they continue to make increasingly strange episodes for their fans.
The Wild-Tempered Clavier
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- Director: Anna Samo
- Produced by: Tom Bergmann; Tiger Unterwegs Filmproduktion, Novanima Prod. (Germany / France)
- Synopsis: Despite the world’s disasters, an artist insists on playing. A story inspired by Bach’s immortal music and painted onto toilet paper rolls as a tribute to the tradition of painting directly on 35mm film.
- Yuck!
- Director: Loïc Espuche
Produced by: Juliette Marquet, Manon Messiant (France) - Synopsis: Just like all the kids at summer camp, Little Leo thinks kissing on the mouth is disgusting. But secretly, he really wants to try it!
- Director: Loïc Espuche
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ten films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 97th Academy Awards. The Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 11, 2025. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
Alien: Romulus
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- VFX supervisor: Eric Barba
- VFX studios: ILM, Fin Design + Effects, Image Engine, Tippett Studio, Wētā FX, Wylie Co., Atomic Arts, Metaphysic, Studio Gillis, Legacy Effects, Wētā Workshop, Pro Machina
Better Man
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- VFX supervisor: Luke Millar
- VFX studio: Wētā FX
Civil War
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- VFX supervisor: David Simpson
- VFX studios: Framestore, TPO VFX
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- VFX supervisor: Swen Gillberg
- VFX studios: ILM, Framestore, Base FX, Barnstorm VFX, Raynault VFX, Rising Sun Pictures, Wētā FX, Method Studios
Dune: Part Two
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- VFX supervisor: Paul Lambert
- VFX studios: DNEG, Wylie Co., Rodeo FX, Territory Studio
Gladiator II
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- VFX supervisor: Mark Bakowski
- VFX studios: ILM, Framestore, SSVFX, Ombrium, Exceptional Minds, Cheap Shot
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
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- VFX supervisor: Erik Winquist
- VFX studio: Wētā FX
Mufasa: The Lion King
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- VFX supervisor: Adam Valdez
- VFX studio: MPC
Twisters
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- VFX supervisor: Ben Snow
- VFX studios: ILM, BOT VFX, Hybride Technologies, SDFX Studios, Yannix, Exceptional Minds, Vitality Visual Effects
Wicked
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- VFX supervisor: Pablo Helman
- VFX studios: ILM, Framestore, OPSIS, Outpost VFX, Lola VFX, BOT VFX
Nominations voting begins on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, and concludes on Sunday, January 12, 2025.
Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on Friday, January 17, 2025.
The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu and airs live in more than 200 territories worldwide.
