To most audiences watching the Academy Awards, the three short film categories are a mystery. Unless you live in a major city or can find them in various corners of the Internet, it can be difficult to track down all fifteen of the nominated short films. And as most Oscar experts will tell you, the best way to predict the winners of these categories – which can often make or break your Oscar pool – is to actually watch all of them and make an educated guess based on how the Academy has voted for these categories in the past. However, not all of them are online for viewing, and finding a theatrical screening can be difficult. Not to worry! Next Best Picture has your guide to all of the nominated shorts. This piece will not only provide each film with a mini-review but will analyze their awards prospects and give the best prediction for each of the three categories. Consider this your cheat sheet for the short film categories at this year’s Oscars.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:
“Beautiful Men”
Brought to life with impressively detailed stop-motion animation, “Beautiful Men” focuses on three brothers in Istanbul awaiting hair transplant surgery. It’s not entirely clear if this is supposed to be based in reality (the specific 2021 timestamp and certain plot details would seem to suggest this), given that some subtly strange elements infiltrate the story. Ultimately, this short wraps up in a way that makes itself feel fairly inconsequential despite being a visual treat.
“In the Shadow of the Cypress”
This Iranian short film uses gorgeous hand-drawn animation to tell its dialogue-free story. Unfortunately, that story vacillates between incomprehensible and troubling. Opening with a scene of domestic abuse that’s never revisited or resolved, it explores one man’s rage-provoking PTSD and how his frightened daughter deals with it. Also, there’s a beached whale, a shipwreck, and other symbolic imagery that don’t build a clear narrative or thematic point.
“Magic Candies”
This charming short from Japanese director Daisuke Nishio manages to fit a full story with a beginning, middle, and end in just 20 minutes. Centering on a young boy named Dong-Dong who loves marbles, it has a brilliant central concept. Dong-Dong picks up a bag of candies that resemble marbles and comes to find that once he puts them in his mouth, these candies grant him the power to hear the thoughts and speech of inanimate objects, like his couch and living creatures that don’t communicate in typical human fashion, like his dog. But this gift goes away as soon as the candy dissolves. It’s a fun, ultimately moving idea for a film, and it could’ve easily been feature-length by exploring other types of candies and showing what they do. As it stands, it’s a great short film that packs a punch and features beautiful animation.
“Wander to Wonder”
The most bizarre of this admittedly strange group of nominees, this stop-motion film is difficult to describe without sounding like you fell on your head. It focuses on a trio of small humans (think “The Borrowers”) who used to star in a children’s TV show where they wore anthropomorphic monster costumes, à la the “Teletubbies.” But as the film opens, the show’s full-grown human host and creator are dead and rotting on the floor of the cramped room they all occupy. Still, the main trio carries on performing the show to no audience as their abode and mental states deteriorate. It’s a freaky, off-putting short that’s bursting with creativity. Not only is the concept well-defined (it’s clear exactly what’s going on within minutes), it’s executed in an unexpected, unpredictable way.
“Yuck!”
Although this French film doesn’t feature the most impressive or groundbreaking animation style, it tells a charming, adorable story perfectly suited to the short film format. The title refers to how the children at the film’s center feel about seeing adults kissing. And in the world of the film, when two people want to kiss each other, their lips glow pink and sparkle. This leads to several hilarious situations, and ultimately, the film shows that some childhood experiences that felt unique are more universal than we may have thought.
What to Predict?
Precursors aren’t usually a factor with the shorts; however, “Wander to Wonder” won in the shorts categories at both the Annie Awards and the BAFTAs – two awards that share voting members with the Academy. Still, its bizarre subject matter and execution may repel some voters, in which case either the stunning animation of “In the Shadow of the Cypress” or the charming storytelling (and eye-catching title) of “Yuck!” may lead their films to victory.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM:
“Death by Numbers”
As has come to be expected for this category, a good number of the nominated shorts cover extremely harrowing, upsetting subjects. “Death by Numbers” is one. It centers around one of the survivors of the Parkland school shooting, Sam Fuentes. Smartly, it’s told through her voice; she’s the film’s credited writer. This short covers a significant amount of ground in its brief runtime. It’s essentially a visualized diary entry from Fuentes, looking at both her experience during the massacre and afterward, and also delves into the trial of the shooter Nikolas Cruz. To keep the focus on the victims and survivors rather than the murderer himself, the film makes the smart choice to cover his face with a bold black X…for only part of its runtime. This concept is abandoned toward the end of the film as Fuentes herself confronts him via court testimony, which is a rather mystifying choice. “Death by Numbers” spotlights a powerful subject, but its unfocused filmmaking is a distraction.
“I Am Ready, Warden”
Another tough subject, this time, with the impending execution of death row inmate John Henry Ramirez, who was convicted for the murder of Pablo Castro in 2004. “I Am Ready, Warden” examines the death penalty in Texas through this singular case and also spends time with Castro’s son, who’s still grieving his father. His story is smartly paralleled with that of Ramirez’s young son, who was born while Ramirez was on the run in Mexico. The film makes a clear case against the death penalty, but its sympathetic focus on an admitted murderer is sure to be divisive at best. The film’s greatest asset is Castro’s son, Aaron, who represents those who wish to see justice done while also understanding the futility of killing as vengeance.
“Incident”
“Incident” is nothing short of astonishing. It’s a simple concept: Using police body cam and security camera footage, it pieces together the 2018 murder of Harith “Snoop” Augustus by Chicago police. These various angles and perspectives are woven together to create a seemingly real-time tapestry that shows the objective truth of the situation. It’s a feat of editing and sound mixing, using a vast amount of footage to tell its story without ever becoming unwieldy. It’s one of 2024’s greatest filmmaking achievements, period. Unfortunately, the very things that make it great – its atypical structure and lack of post-incident editorializing or commentary – are what make it unlikely to win the Oscar.
“Instruments of a Beating Heart”
A film showcasing a group of children playing percussion instruments sounds like an instant headache. Still, Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s portrait of a Tokyo elementary school orchestra is simply charming and adorable. Focusing on Ayame, a young schoolgirl tasked with playing the cymbal in her school’s “Ode to Joy” performance, it’s a heartwarming story showing that practice may not make perfect, but it’s always a good idea. Unlike most of the typical nominees in this category, “Instruments of a Beating Heart” tells a story that’s uplifting and decidedly not dire.
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra”
Distributed by Netflix, “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” is by far the easiest to watch and generally appreciated of the five nominated documentary shorts. It’s a mini-biopic about Orin O’Brien, a double bassist who was the first-ever female musician hired by the New York Philharmonic. The film covers both her career in retrospect and her 2021 retirement after 55 years of playing. Notably, O’Brien makes a point to deemphasize her importance, both as a member of the orchestra (she stresses that the bassists are there to provide support, not to stand out) and as a trailblazer for her gender. Still, filmmaker Molly O’Brien (Orin’s niece) makes a case for Orin’s place in the history books with an enjoyable, easily consumable film.
What to Predict?
Netflix has done well in this category, with four previous wins in the past decade (“The Elephant Whisperers,” “Period. End of Sentence.,” “The White Helmets,” “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”) and voters love to reward films that focus on an unheralded person or group of people worthy of praise for their achievements, such as with recent winners like “The Last Repair Shop,” “The Queen of Basketball,” and “Colette.” As such, “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” feels like a smart bet. If there’s anything that might threaten its win, the topicality and political significance of “Death by Numbers” may do it.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“A Lien”
Led by a bracing performance by Victoria Ratermanis, this tense little thriller peers into America’s beyond-imperfect immigration system. Ratermanis plays Sophia, an American citizen married to a non-legal resident named Oscar (William Martinez). “A Lien” shows the stressful bureaucratic process Oscar must go through to get closer to citizenship, but things take a harrowing turn during his interview. It’s “Catch-22” with all the stress of a horror film, excellently showing how even when the extremely arbitrary rules are followed, the United States does everything it can to make life more difficult for those who had the apparent misfortune of simply not being born in the country.
“Anuja”
Centering on a young Indian girl named Anuja (Sajda Pathan), who works as a child laborer in a factory, “Anuja” tells an inspiring story of beating the undesirable hand that life has dealt. The unusually intelligent Anuja is given a chance to take an exam that would allow her to go to school, but even just getting to the exam is a challenge for her. Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag (who plays Anuja’s older sister Palak) are both delightful, but the film ends abruptly in an unsatisfying way.
“I’m Not a Robot”
The Dutch sci-fi short film, “I’m Not A Robot,” uses an everyday occurrence (the CAPTCHA test deployed all throughout the Internet to impede bots) as a means of exploring the absurdity of modern technological life. Ellen Parren plays Lara, an office worker who finds herself struggling to pass a CAPTCHA test, leading to a series of misunderstandings and revelations that upend her world. Parren is fantastic – a perfect mix of hilariously and heartbreakingly frustrated. Writer-director Victoria Warmerdam crafts a creative story that impactfully reflects our monotonously ridiculous times.
“The Last Ranger”
Made by South African filmmaker Cindy Lee, this tells the story of a ranger (Avumile Qongqo) on a game reserve who takes a young girl named Litha (Liyabona Mroqoza) under her wing. The pair observe and guard rare rhinos…before a gang of poachers sets upon them. Based on a true story, this powerful film has gorgeous cinematography that would be right at home in a big-budget Hollywood movie (it even features music by John Powell, nominated this same year for his score for “Wicked”). Emotions run high in “The Last Ranger,” which can feel a bit overwhelming in such a short runtime. But still, it’s an impactful film with a powerful conclusion.
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
Based on true events, Croatian director Nebojša Slijepčević dramatizes the 1993 Štrpci massacre in which eighteen Muslims and one Croat were abducted from a train and executed by a Serbian militia group. There’s practically no context offered for those who may not be aware of this incident. Still, “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” aims to be claustrophobic and disorienting, so that lack of knowledge may actually be to the film’s benefit. Slijepčević creates a cinematic nightmare in thirteen minutes, aided by excellent performances and an upsetting sound mix that uses the banal noises of a stopped train to maximize the feeling of dread.
What to Predict?
This is undoubtedly the most difficult of the three categories to predict. There’s a case to be made for every single one of these five nominees. My instinct is to go with “A Lien,” given that it covers the ultra-topical subject of American immigration policy and does so in an effective, appropriately upsetting way. Recent winners like “The Long Goodbye,” “Two Distant Strangers,” “Skin,” and “The Silent Child” similarly used an individual narrative to tell a broader story about a current hot-button issue. There’s also a case to be made for “Anuja,” which is easily the least harrowing of the nominees. It’s distributed by Netflix and features familiar names on its producing team, like Mindy Kaling and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” may also appeal to voters who want to make a statement about standing up for what’s right in times of adversity. It’s a tough category to call, but “A Lien” makes the most sense.
What do you think will win the three Short Film categories at the 97th Academy Awards? Please let us know in the comments below or over on our X account and check out our latest Oscar winner predictions here (or you can listen to them on the podcast here).
