(UPDATE: The headline for this piece has been updated to label these films as “potentially qualifying” rather than qualifying or submitted. All of these films have technically qualified for the race, but should be considered “potentially qualified” since the films must also be submitted to the Academy and meet the Academy’s other rules and regulations before fully qualifying. Further explanation can be found below.)
Cartoon Brew has learned that a record 92 animated shorts have been submitted for the Best Animated Short Film category of the 2020 Academy Awards.
While that list of films is not made public, Cartoon Brew has used publicly available information as well as privately submitted information from filmmakers to compile a list of films that we believe to have been qualified for the category.
There are three pathways to qualifying for the Academy Award Best Animated Short category:
The film must have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival. The list of film festivals and the specific awards at those festivals that can qualify a film can be found in this pdf.
The picture must have been publicly exhibited for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County or the City of New York for a run of at least seven consecutive days with at least one screening a day prior to public exhibition or distribution by any non-theatrical means. The picture also must appear in the theater listings along with the appropriate dates and screening time(s).
The film must have won a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal award in the Academy’s 2019 Student Academy Awards competition in the Animation, Narrative, Alternative or International categories.
Even though all of the films in our list are technically eligible, it is still up to the filmmaker to take the extra step of entering the film into the Oscar competition. And even if the film qualifies by winning an award or screening theatrically, it has to follow all of the Academy’s rules and regulations before officially qualifying for the race. For these reasons, no one can be absolutely certain whether all of these films will be on the final list of qualified films, however at this moment in time, it is the closest thing available to a complete list.
First-round voting by members of the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch will take place in New York on October 26 and 27, and in Los Angeles on November 9 and 10. Online voting for the shortlist will take place between December 6-10. The 10-film shortlist is scheduled to be announced on December 16.
The nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, January 13, 2020, and the Oscars will be presented on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California.
The films are presented below in alphabetical order:
Acid Rain
Tomek Popakul (Poland)
Qualified at Animafest Zagreb
Augur
David Doutel, Vasco Sá (Portugal/France)
Qualified at Busan
Blind Mice
Nicholas D’Agostino (U.S.)
Qualified at Raindance
Cazatalentos
José Herrera (Spain)
Qualified through Goya Awards
Cityunited
Don Jayamanne (U.K.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Cityunited.”
Coffee Break
María Cristina Pérez, Mauricio Cuervo Rincón (Colombia)
Qualified at Bogoshorts
Coaster
Amos Sussigan, Dan Lund (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Cops & Robbers (Räuber & Gendarm)
Florian Maubach (Germany)
Qualified through German Short Film Award
Curse of the Monkeybird
Pete Browngardt (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Curse of the Monkeybird.”
Cycles
Jeff Gipson (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Cycles.”
Dak’Toka Taíno
Alba García (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Dani
Lizzy Hogenson (U.S.)
Qualified at Palm Springs
Daughter
Daria Kashcheeva (Czech Republic)
Qualified at Student Academy Awards
Don’t Feed These Animals
Guilherme Afonso and Miguel Madaíl de Freitas (Portugal)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Dont Know What
Thomas Renoldner (Austria)
Qualified at Ottawa
Downtown
Kendra Vander Vliet (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Drop
Trent Correy (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Drop.”
Egg
Martina Scarpelli (France/Denmark)
Qualified at AFI Fest, Athens, Leipzig
Elephant in the Room
Brian Scott (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Elephant in the Room.”
Exchange Student
Natalie Nourigat (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
“Exchange Student.”
Falafel Cart
Abdullah Al-Wazzan (Kuwait)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Fetch
Mitch Counsell (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Five Minutes to Sea
Natalia Mirzoyan (Russia)
Qualified at Animayo, Encounters, Lebu
Flowing Through Wonder
Joanna Lurie (France)
Qualified at Flickerfest
(Fool Time) Job
Gilles Cuvelier (France)
Qualified at Uppsala
Follow the White Rabbid
Meat Dept (France)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Game Changer
Aviv Mano (U.S.)
Qualified at Student Academy Awards
Girl in the Hallway
Valerie Barnhart (Canada)
Qualified at Edmonton
Gon, The Little Fox
Takeshi Yashiro (Japan)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Grand Bassin
Héloïse Courtois, Chloé Plat, Victori Jalabert, Adèle Raigneau (France)
Qualified at Warsaw
Grendel
Kalee McCollaum (U.S.)
Qualified at Student Academy Awards “Grendel.”
Guaxuma
Nara Normande (Brazil/France)
Qualified at Cinequest, Guadalajara, SXSW
Gun Shop
Patrick Smith (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Hair-Jitsu
Brian Estrada (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Hair Love
Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr., Bruce W. Smith (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Hands
John Canemaker (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Hands.”
He Can’t Live Without Cosmos
Konstantin Bronzit (Russia)
Qualified at Tirana, In the Palace
Henrietta Bulkowski
Rachel Johnson (U.S.)
Qualified at Atlanta, Santa Barbara
Hors Piste
Léo Brunel, Loris Cavalier, Camille Jalabert, Oscar Malet (France)
Qualified at New York Int’ Children’s Film Festival
How I Left Your Father
Explosm/Connor Murphy (France)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Ian, A Moving Story
Abel Goldfarb (Argentina)
Qualified at Cleveland
I’m Going Out for Cigarettes (Je sors acheter des cigarettes)
Osman Cerfon (France)
Qualified at Animator Int’ Festival
Jing Hua
Jerry Huynh (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
“Jing Hua.”
Just a Thought
Brian Menz (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
“Just A Thought.”
Kitbull
Rosana Sullivan (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Las Del Diente
Ana Pérez López (Spain)
Qualified at Florida
Le Mans 1955
Quentin Baillieux (France)
Qualified at St. Louis
Lightning in a Bottle
John Aquino (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Lightning in a Bottle.”
Lucky Toupee
Nikki Mull (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Maestro
Illogic (France)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Marooned
Andrew Erekson (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Memorable
Bruno Collet (France)
Qualified at Annecy
Mind My Mind
Floor Adams (Netherlands/Belgium)
Qualified at Rhode Island
Mr. Mare
Luca Tóth (Hungary/France)
Qualified at Odense
My Generation
Ludovic Houplain (France)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
My Little Goat
Tomoki Misato (Japan)
Qualified at Short Shorts
My Moon
Eusong Lee (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
My Mother’s Eyes
Jenny Wright (U.K.)
Qualified at Tribeca
Ostrich Politic
Mohamad Houhou (France)
Qualified at LA Shorts Fest
Plankton
Gustaf Lindström (U.K.)
Qualified at Interfilm
Portrait of Suzanne
Izabela Plucińska (Poland/Germany/France)
Qualified at Krakow
Primos
Federico Gutiérrez Obeso (Mexico)
Qualified at Chilemonos
Puddles
Zach Parrish (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Puddles.”
Purl
Kristen Lester (U.S.)
Qualified at Siggraph
Raymonde or the Vertical Escape
Sarah van der Boom (France)
Qualified at Leeds
Reneepoptosis
Renee Zhan (U.S./Japan)
Qualified at Sundance
Reruns
Rosto (France/Netherlands/Belgium)
Qualified at Anima
Riviera
Jonas Schloesing (France)
Qualified at Guanajuato, Regard — Saguenay Int’ Film Festival
Roughhouse
Jonathan Hodgson (U.K./France)
Qualified through BAFTA Awards
Selfies
Claudius Gentinetta (Switzerland)
Qualified at San Francisco
Shalva (=Tranquility)
Danna Windsor (U.S.)
Qualified at Slamdance
Sister
Siqi Song (U.S./China)
Qualified at Aspen Shortsfest, Austin, Foyle, Hollyshorts
Sitara: Let Girls Dream
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (Pakistan)
Qualified through public exhibition in New York City
Smash and Grab
Brian Larsen (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Sohrab and Rustum
Lee Whitmore (Australia)
Qualified at Sydney
Songs to Sing in the Dark
Riannon Delanoy (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Substance
Jamaal Bradley (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Streets of Fury
Aidan McAteer (Ireland)
Qualified at Galway
Tasks of the Day
Petya Zlateva (Bulgaria)
Qualified at In the Palace
The Bird and the Whale
Carol Freeman (Ireland)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
The Flood Is Coming
Gabriel Böhmer (Switzerland/U.K.)
Qualified at Winterthur
The Kite
Martin Smatana (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Poland)
The Opposites Game
Lisa LaBracio, Anna Samo (U.S.)
Qualified at Raindance
The Physics of Sorrow
Theodore Ushev (Canada)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
The Procession (Le cortège)
Pascal Blanchet, Rodolphe Saint-Gelais (Canada)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “The Procession.”
The Race
Terry Moews (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
The Wheel Turns
Sang Joon Kim (U.S./Japan/South Korea)
Qualified at Sitges
Two
Emre Okten (U.S.)
Qualified at Student Academy Awards
Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days
Regina Pessoa (Canada/France/Portugal)
Qualified at Anima Mundi, Annecy
Walking Meat
Shinya Sugai (Japan)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
Under the Rib Cage
Bruno Tondeur (France/Belgium)
Qualified at Krakow
Zenith
Jennifer Stratton (U.S.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county “Zenith.”
Zog
Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon (U.K.)
Qualified through public exhibition in L.A. county
