Yesterday (Wed 17th Dec), many of us were eagerly awaiting the release of the Oscars Shortlists at 11 AM PT. As longtime followers of the race, we’re trying a new format this year with this article, as for the first time, we got a look at the 180 films battling for one of the fifteen spots on the Best Live Action Short Film Shortlist.

I will say that upon first glance, circa 11:02am PT, my initial reaction to the shortlist was surprisingly positive – especially compared to previous years. Inevitably, some great films were snubbed, but other deserving ones now get the chance to start fighting for one of the five nomination spots. Who needs a Holiday break anyway?

For what it’s worth, below are my “hot” takes – from the perspective of someone who has absolutely no skin in the game.

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Eligible Films

In the pool of 180 films eligible for consideration, there was an impressive range of styles and narratives from around the world. We were happy to spot some familiar names in the list – new films from alums and a few shorts we’d already featured on S/W – alongside many others that we have already discovered on the festival circuit and are hoping to feature soon.

These include Tea by Blake Rice, which started its festival journey in competition at the 2024 Festival de Cannes; Endless Sea by Sam Shainberg, selected at Slamdance, SXSW, Palm Springs, among others; La Cascada by Pablo Delgado, which screened at Clermont, Palm Springs, Guadalajara and more; and I Promise You Paradise by Morad Mostafa, which premiered at the 2023 edition of the Semaine de la Critique, and will probably be his last short, as he is now working on his feature debut.

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Jens Kevin Georg’s Crust was one of two films already featured on S/W to make the shortlist.

What the Shortlist got Right

You can find the full list of the 15 shortlisted titles in a separate post on S/W, so I won’t go through each one here. Instead, here are some brief thoughts. First of all, I’d like to reiterate that this is a strong list compared to previous years. It has the potential to deliver five strong films as the nominees – although, it could also go the other way.

We’re super excited to see A Lien make the shortlist – as not only is it already available on S/W, but directors David Cutler-Kreutz & Sam Cutler-Kreutz were already alums, with their short Flounder. Another standout is Crust by Jens Kevin Georg, a winner of a Student Academy Award and featured on our pages just under two weeks ago.

Among the titles represented by JJPR are two of our favorite films of the year: The Masterpiece by Àlex Lora, which we discovered at Sundance (where it won the Grand Jury Prize) and I’m Not a Robot by Victoria Warmerdam, which we saw at the Palm Springs ShortFest after it had already won the Best Short Film award at Sitges.

Winners from two of France’s major festivals were also present in the shortlist: An Orange from Jaffa by Palestinian director Mohammed Almughanni, which won the Grand Prix in the International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand, and Nebojša Slijepčević’s Palme d’or winner The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, fresh off its European Film Award success.

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Jasmin Mozaffari’s short film Motherland was one we expected to see on the shortlist.

What the Shortlist got Wrong

While this list gave us plenty of reasons to celebrate, there are several films that we believed more than deserved a spot on the list but were unfortunately overlooked. Without further ado, here is my list of the shorts that got snubbed… according to me…

Starting with three films that won at TIFF: in 2023, Jasmin Mozaffari’s Motherland (featured on S/W for a limited time), and in 2024, Bec Pecaut’s Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? and Malin Ingrid Johansson’s Deck 5B.

Other notable omissions include Cross My Heart and Hope to Die by Sam Manacsa, Oyu by Atsushi Hirai, Dissolution by Anthony Saxe and Tits by Eivind Landsvik – all films with impressive festival careers, that we loved catching on the big screen all over the world.

It would obviously be exciting to see a great genre film make the cut, and this year we had high hopes for Carlos A.F. Lopez’s Dream Creep on the list – produced by S/W alum Megan Leonard (Mixtape Marauders, The Ref, The Influencer). And last but certainly not least, Bogotá Story by Esteban Pedraza, was another outstanding S/W film that we thought deserved recognition from The Academy.

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In his role as Executive Producer, Colin Farrell hosts a Q&A for the short film Room Taken

Is a Publicist Essential?

The race for the Short Film Oscars has changed a lot in recent years, turning more and more into the elaborate kind of campaign typical of feature films. Which raises an important question: is having a publicist now essential?

London Flair has established itself as the biggest player in this category, representing at least 29 clients in the Live Action Short race this year. One of their hallmark strategies for getting coverage in the trades is bringing in celebrity names to take on the role of Executive Producer, or “jump on board” as they say. This year, those celebrities included Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller, Sharon Horgan and Patty Jenkins. But is this tactic actually effective or is it just a publicity gimmick?

Representing nearly double the number of films as there are spots on the shortlist, capacity-wise, London Flair obviously couldn’t get all their clients through. Still, six of their titles made it this year, claiming over a third of the available spots.

However, when it came to those films with celebrity backing, only two from (at least) eight films made the cut. After all, who can say no to Colin Farrell – or apparently to Mindy Kaling. The remaining four London Flair shorts include films with strong festival careers, one starring Zoe Saldaña and the Palme d’or winner. While hiring a publicist doesn’t guarantee success, it does give you a leg up, boosting visibility – which is ultimately what campaigning is all about (aside from winning, of course).

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Beyond the short film categories, the International Feature Shortlist also gave us a smile with some familiar names included. Representing Canada is Universal Language, directed by S/W alum Matthew Rankin (The Tesla World Light, Mynarski Death Plummet). While representing Palestine is the short omnibus From Ground Zero (which we recently gave you an exclusive look at), set for release in the U.S. by Watermelon Pictures on January 3rd. Someone should probably let Variety know.