2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Murmuration’ Directors Janneke Swinkels And Tim Frijsinger
A nursing home resident finds himself suddenly transforming into a bird. Although he is still accepted, he feels it may be time to join a new flock.
A nursing home resident finds himself suddenly transforming into a bird. Although he is still accepted, he feels it may be time to join a new flock.
Szkiłądź’s ‘Autokar’ turns a child’s unaccompanied 1990s migration by bus from Poland to Belgium into a magical-realist journey of self-discovery.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ artistic director Malcon Pierce channels personal tragedy into a touching, dialogue-free story of loss and recovery.
This haunting 2D short sees its protagonist return to her childhood home in Mexico, where she unearths buried memories and the lingering ghosts of violence and loss.
Juries at the L.A.-based Annecy counterpart also acknowledged Alberto Vazquez’s ‘Decorado’ and Giovanni Ferrari’s ‘Éiru.’ The Audience favored ‘Arco.’
This darkly comic black-and-white short is set in Prague, where a reckless romantic races through chaos to win his crush’s heart.
Vine’s ‘Cardboard,’ produced by Locksmith Animation, follows a single dad and his piglet kids who turn hardship into adventure using pure imagination.
The dialogue-free short, produced by Agora Studio, explores love, sacrifice, and identity in a hauntingly familiar dystopian world.
‘Two Ships’ is a hand-drawn short that explores distance and connection as experienced by a couple occupying the same space, but with opposing schedules.
Miguel Rodrick’s neon-drenched short ‘No Vacancy’ delves into a man’s unraveling mind in a decaying motel and earns 2026 Oscar qualification.
Ida Melum’s stop-motion short ‘Ovary-Acting’ blends humor and heart as a woman literally confronts her uterus while debating motherhood.
Cartoon Saloon’s ‘Éiru’ is a visually lush Celtic myth about courage, nature, and divine balance, brought to life with a breathtaking color palette.
From anime upstarts to international indies and the absence of stop-motion, the 2026 Animated Feature race looks anything but predictable.
‘Gigi’ follows a transgender woman’s poetic journey of self-discovery through metaphors of water, mermaids, and transformation.
VES Honors Celebration 2025 will also celebrate Bob Coleman, Dennis Hoffman, Colin Campbell, Darin Grant, Gayle Munro, and new Hall of Fame inductees.
‘Playing God,’ a skin-crawling stop-motion short where abandoned clay figures fight for identity and belonging, earned qualification by winning the grand jury award at Animayo.
John Kelly’s ‘Retirement Plan,’ narrated by Domhnall Gleeson, has qualified for the 2026 Oscars after winning several major festival awards.
Zohar Dvir’s ‘Butterfly Kiss’ turns fear of commitment into eerie body horror as a couple faces love, change, and metamorphosis.
Aaron Blaise’s heartfelt, hand-drawn short ‘Snow Bear’ is a moving Arctic tale of loss, hope, and love, now qualified for the 2026 Oscars.
Canadian gem ‘The Girl Who Cried Pearls’ and other standout shorts, features, and student films were also celebrated as this year’s festival wrapped things up.