Short of the Week
With the Golden Globes now behind us, it’s safe to say that the 2025 awards season is in full swing. Here at S/W HQ, we’ve already been celebrating the success of Gints Zilbalodis – a filmmaker who we first featured back in 2014 – who took home the Best Animated Feature award and marked the occasion with a Giamatti-inspired stop at In-N-Out Burger.
For short film enthusiasts, the Golden Globes lack dedicated categories, making the Oscars the real highlight of the season. With the shortlists revealed in December 2024, our focus now shifts to the voting period. To assist those tasked with narrowing down the 45 shortlisted films (spanning three categories) to the final 15, we’ve put together our annual guide.
**View all 45-shortlisted films on Shortverse**
The voting period began yesterday, Wednesday, January 8th, and will run until Tuesday, January 14th (recently extended by The Academy, due to the “devastating fires across Southern California”). In each of the categories – Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film, and Best Live-Action Short Film – five films need to be selected. S/W Senior Programmers Rob Munday, Céline Roustan, and Jason Sondhi have shared their top picks below.
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The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film
The beauty of animation is how wide the range of visual aesthetics can be and the 15 films on this year’s shortlist are incredibly diverse – not just in animation styles, but also in tone and narrative. Fortunately, this year is no different from previous ones in this race, with a strong representation of festival favorites, and independent productions. However, last year War Is Over! left the ceremony with the trophy – but then again, who could really stand against Yoko Ono?
Six of the 15 films included at the shortlist stage were directed by S/W alums, including one who is no stranger to Oscar success: Torill Kove, a three-time nominee and winner in 2007. In this category, it is rather common to see previous nominees or winners featured, and Maybe Elephants is, on a certain level, the sequel to previously nominated Me and My Moulton.
 | Beautiful Men by Nicolas Keppens A tender stop-motion animation, Beautiful Men is one of a number of festival circuit hits on the shortlist. Directed by Nicolas Keppens, previously featured on S/W with Easter Eggs and Wildebeest his film is visually very different from his previous work, yet tonally, we recognize his distinct dark humor. Subtle, yet emotionally effective, the film cleverly tackles masculinity through three very different brothers on a quest to get hair transplants in Istanbul. |
 | ME by Don Hertzfeldt A regular on Short of the Week (Ah L’Amour, Everything Will Be OK, The Meaning of Life, World of Tomorrow), Hertzfeldt’s films have been programmed at the biggest festivals in the world, and he has already been nominated in this category twice before. ME is once again a testament to Hertzfeldt’s genius! Described as a musical odyssey about trauma, technology, and the retreat of humanity into itself, it is that and so much more, and probably something we all need to watch. |
 | The Wild-Tempered Clavier by Anna Samo Directed by Anna Samo, one half of the duo behind previous S/W pick, The Opposites Game, The Wild-Tempered Clavier is the film on the shortlist that surprised me the most. Undeniably emotionally strong, while its narrative isn’t where its originality lies, it’s in its configuration that I found it incredibly clever in countless ways. From its homage to painting on 35mm film to its exploration of art above everything else – it even uses Bach, usually a pet peeve of mine – it all comes together with such an empowering force. |
 | Un trou dans la poitrine (A Crab in the Pool) by Alexandra Myotte & Jean-Sébastien Hamel Already featured on Short of the Week, A Crab in the Pool is one of my favorites of the 2023/2024 festival season. With more than 120 festival selections and over 30 awards or special mentions, its inclusion on the shortlist came as no surprise. Emotionally potent and visually striking with its clever and creative use of 2D animation, this film is not only deeply moving it’s also a double coming-of-age tale, as it beautifully portrays the importance of the bond between two siblings. |
 | Wander to Wonder by Nina Gantz Previously featured on S/W with Edmond, Nina Gantz’s new stop-motion animation, Wander to Wonder, took the festival circuit by storm since its premiere at the 2023 edition of Venice. Already awarded Best British Short Film at the 2024 BIFA’s and currently on the BAFTA longlist in the British Short Animation category, Wander to Wonder is not only incredibly impressive through its craft but also through the way Gantz subverts expectations with its surprisingly sinister tone. |
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The Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film
If every year there must be a crisis category, then I nominate Documentary Short Subject for the 97th Academy Awards. Last year, I claimed that the live-action shortlist was “embarrassing” but that’s not the case this time, as the lineup sports several solid contenders. Animation is also in fine shape, continuing its multi-year trend of diversifying away from major studio dominance to celebrate and represent the diversity of the form stylistically and globally.
The Documentary category has been traditionally stable, as the oversight of the Documentary branch and the investment of streamers and legacy publishers in acquiring work has ensured a coherent vetting and campaign process. Therefore, this documentary shortlist is far from “embarrassing” and it’s hard to imagine it ever falling to that level. What it is, however, is boring, and it is also increasingly hard to imagine how it could break out of this pattern.
To my amateur diagnosis, the trouble is that the same forces that buoyed the category in prior years are cementing its staleness. Acquirers with clout are prioritizing topicality, weighty issue films, and quirky profiles, having identified a winning formula. But that is crowding out originality and innovation. I do not see a film with the formal boldness of Bear or Haulout, or the free-spiritedness of Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, to list examples from just the last couple of cycles. Is this simply a down year? It is something to keep an eye on. – Jason Sondhi
 | A Swim Lesson by Rashida Jones & Will McCormack Modest in scope but nicely executed, this conventional profile doc is a classic crowd-pleaser. Jones and McCormack find an appealing subject in children’s swim instructor Bill Marsh, who has taught LA-area children to swim for decades. Excellent on camera, Bill possesses a guru-like sagacity, providing insights into swimming that double as lessons for life. Pair that with cute kids, nice cinematography, and even a social action element that is not overplayed, and you have a film that counterprograms well against this categories tendency toward heavy subject matter. With McCormack’s status as a prior Oscar winner and Jones’ celebrity, I would expect this to be a strong candidate to win. |
 | I Am Ready, Warden by Smriti Mundhra A good examination of the death penalty in America via a single case, Smriti Mundhra (previously nominated for St. Louis Superman) has crafted a film that asks, what is the difference between justice and retribution? Does a condemned man’s reform have meaning to society? To his victims? The questions are inherently thought-provoking, emotional, and dramatic, which forgives the fact that the film is conventional in construction and that the topic is well-understood in the public discourse. Exec produced by Sheila Nevins, this is one of the final projects from the legendary former HBO executive’s 5-year run at MTV Documentary Films which she spun into an annual awards contender. Watch the trailer | Full Film on Paramount+ |
 | Incident by Bill Morrison Bill Morrison, one of America’s leading avante-garde filmmakers, reconstructs the 2018 Chicago police killing of a black man by utilizing footage from security footage, body cams, and social media. Morrison is well known for archival montage films and this borrows from those sensibilities as he manipulates the frame, sometimes including 4 simultaneous feeds onscreen at once. At its heart though, the film is more akin in construction to an OSINT film, a recent subgenre of documentary I discussed in my review of the 1/6 documentary, Day of Rage. |
 | Instruments of a Beating Heart by Ema Ryan Yamazaki The category does have a clearcut favorite—if only in my heart. Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s short, released with the NyTimes and carved from a larger feature project is the short I’ve watched and shared the most this year. It was my pick for our recent Staff Faves list, and for further thoughts, please read my featured Short of the Week review. |
 | Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World by Julio Palacio A strongly executed film that has captured hearts at fests, if I had to place a bet today I would expect it to win the award. The story of a non-verbal autistic girl learning to express herself (in a surprisingly beautiful and poetic fashion no less), the film is a perfect awards recipe: a winning lead subject, topicality, and a social impact element. Its director, Julio Palacios, directs a slick piece that attracted Netflix and deploys interesting creative ideas with its voiceover conceit and the tasteful incorporation of animation—it’s a good film. However, its glossiness has drawbacks in terms of depth, and the film is suffused with attestations of magic and empowerment that grated on me. |
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The Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film
Last year, we called the Best Live Action Short Film category a “mess,” but this year’s shortlist took us by surprise with a strong selection of films. While Céline highlighted in her Reactions article several eligible titles we were disappointed to see left out, the fact that I could immediately pick four films from the shortlist that I genuinely loved – something that’s been a challenge in the past – speaks to the significant improvement in this category.
Unlike last year, when Pedro Almodóvar and Wes Anderson were clear frontrunners from the outset, this year’s race feels wide open. We’re eagerly anticipating which five films will make it to the nominations stage, but if it was up to me, this is where my votes would be going. – Rob Munday
 | An Orange from Jaffa by Mohammed Almughanni Filmmakers have explored the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through various lenses, but director Mohammed Almughanni chose a unique approach, setting his portrayal almost entirely within the confines of a taxi. It sounds unusual – but it works! The tension here is palpable and the performances of the two leads bring a startling authenticity to the narrative. It’s the type of situation you’d dread being put in, but through his film Almughanni immerses us in the scenario, helping us to see the difficulties from the region in a new light. |
 | A Lien by Sam Cutler-Kreutz & David Cutler-Kreutz I have to admit, when we first spotlighted A Lien in September 2024, it wasn’t a film I immediately pegged for Oscar contention. However, revisiting it recently has made me rethink that stance. This 15-minute short masterfully tackles a topical subject, delivering an experience that is immersive, emotive, and deeply impactful. In our original review, we dubbed this directorial duo as “major film talents,” and that’s a declaration we wholeheartedly stand by. |
 | Crust by Jens Kevin Georg A short we were excited to feature on our pages just over a month ago (Dec 2024), Crust is a film that stands out in the 15 film shortlist due to its light-hearted, comedic approach. The story of 12yr-old Fabi and how he must prove himself to his family by earning his first scar, Georg’s film combines a highly-stylised aesthetic, a charming narrative and a rickety looking rollercoaster to make for a truly entertaining watch. If Wes Anderson’s signature quirkiness secured him the award last year, then why not Crust in 2025? |
 | I Am Not a Robot by Victoria Warmerdam A subtle sci-fi story that could have easily veered into absurdity, Warmerdam instead infuses her tale of a “bot” uncovering their true identity with genuine heart. The film opens almost like a comedy, with a frustrated worker stuck on what should be a simple CAPTCHA test. However, this 22-minute short quickly evolves into a richly layered exploration of existential themes, delving into questions of self and consciousness. It’s a standout piece and a personal favourite of mine. |
 | L’homme qui ne se taisait pas (The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent) by Nebojša Slijepčević Winner of a Palme d’Or and European Film Award in 2024, The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent has to be a frontrunner for the Best Live Action Short Film Academy Award in 2025. Set aboard a passenger train traveling from Belgrade to Bar, this tense period drama transcends its specific setting, exploring universal themes of courage and moral integrity. Slijepčević’s film is both powerful and timeless in its message. Watch the film (Europe only) |