Our Annual Look At The Year’s Oscar-Qualified Animated Shorts: 39 Profiles

Each October, we impose an editorial blackout on all Oscar-qualified short films that lasts through the Academy’s shortlist voting, which, this year, begins today.

The sole exception is our series of brief interview profiles, each spotlighting one qualifying film. Each profile includes a four-question Q&A. The first three questions are the same for everyone, with a fourth question tailored to each film. We also offered each filmmaker the opportunity to share developmental and BTS artwork.

Our aim is to feature as many of these shorts as possible — no more than one per day — in the weeks leading up to voting, and to do so as meritocratically as we can.

Films qualify for the Academy Awards through several routes: winning an Oscar-qualifying festival award, completing a theatrical run, or earning a Student Academy Award.

This year, 113 animated shorts qualified. We profiled 39 of them.

Thank you to all the filmmakers, producers, distributors, festivals, and PR teams who reached out and helped make this coverage possible.

Below are this year’s Oscar-qualified short film profiles, presented in the order they were published. Just click the image, and you’ll be directed to the article. Once voting concludes, we’ll return with more coverage of the 15 films that advance.

Snow Bear, Aaron Blaise

Butterfly Kiss, Zohar Dvir

Retirement Plan, John Kelly

Playing God, Matteo Burani

Gigi, Cynthia Clavi

Éiru, Giovannaq Ferrari

Ovary Acting, Ida Melum

No Vacancy, Miguel Rodrick

Two Ships, McKinley Benson

Transferable, Jacob Gardner, David Hubert

Cardboard, J.P. Vine

Hurikán, Jan Saska

As If Swallowed By Earth, Natalia León

Versa, Malcon Pierce

Autokar, Sylwia Szkiłądź

Trash, Gregory Bouzid, Maxime Crançon, Robin Delaporte, Matteo Durand, Romain Fleischer, Alexis Le Ral, Margaux Lutz, Fanny Vecchie.

Wednesdays With Gramps, Chris and Justin Copeland

The Night Boots, Pierre-Luc Granjon

On Weary Wings Go By, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg

The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

Hairy Legs, Andrea Dorfman

Black Man, Black Man, Frank Abney

Pow!, Joey Clift

Whale 52, Daniel Neiden

Capybaras, Alfredo Soderguit

Two Black Boys In Paradise, Baz Sells

The Wolf, Theodore Ushev

Voyage Of The Red Rabbit, Sam Gualtieri

Sparrow’s Song, Tobias Eckerlin

My Brother, My Brother, Abdelrahman Dnewar

Inkwo For When The Starving Return, Amanda Strong

The Puppet And The Whale, Roberto Catani

Cafuné, Carlos F. De Vigo, Lorena Ares

I Died In Irpin, Anastasiia Falileieva

Luz Diabla, Gervasio Canda, Patricio Plaza, Paula Boffo

Póg Mo Pigeon, Clíodhna Lyons

Forevergreen, Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears

Jesus 2, Jesse Moynihan

Butterfly, Florence Miailhe

The Quinta’s Ghost, James A. Castillo