With the 97th Oscars just under three months away, the race for the short film awards is heating up with today’s (Tue, Dec 17) announcement of the shortlists. As anticipated, several S/W alumni have made the cut and a few of the nominated films are already available to watch online - either for free or via streaming platforms.

Check out the 45 shortlisted titles below or visit Shortverse for the complete collection. Use Shortverse "filters" to manipulate the collection to see the doc, animation, and live-action lineups individually, or to isolate films online and ready to watch right now.

Best Animated Short

Un trou dans la poitrine (A Crab in the Pool)

Au Revoir Mon Monde by Estelle Bonnardel, Quentin Devred & Baptiste Duchamps | Watch Now
A Bear Named Wojtek by Iain Gardner | Watch Trailer
Beautiful Men by Nicolas Keppens | Watch Trailer
Bottle George by Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi | Watch Trailer
A Crab in the Pool by Jean-Sébastien Hamel & Alexandra Myotte | Watch Now
In the Shadow of the Cypress by Hossein Molayemi & Shirin Sohani | Watch Now
Magic Candies by Daisuke Nishio | Watch Trailer
Maybe Elephants by Torill Kove | Watch Trailer
Me by Don Hertzfeldt | Available for Rent
Origami by Kei Kanamori | Watch Now
Percebes by Laura Gonçalves & Alexandra Ramires | Watch Trailer
The 21 by Tod Polson | Watch Trailer
Wander to Wonder by Nina Gantz | Watch Trailer
The Wild-Tempered Clavier by Anna Samo | Watch Trailer
Yuck! by Loïc Espuche | Watch Trailer

Previous winner: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko by Dave Mullins

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Best Documentary Short

instruments of a beating heart

Chasing Roo by Skye Fitzgerald | Watch Trailer
Death by Numbers by Kim A. Snyder | Shortverse Page
Eternal Father by Ömer Sami | Watch Now
I Am Ready, Warden by Smriti Mundhra | Streaming on Paramount+
Incident by Bill Morrison | Watch Now
Instruments of a Beating Heart by Ema Ryan Yamazaki | Watch Now
Keeper by Hannah Rafkin | Shortverse Page
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World by Julio Palacio | Streaming on Netflix
Once upon a Time in Ukraine by Betsy West & Khodakivska Tetiana | SV Page
The Only Girl in the Orchestra by Molly O'Brien | Streaming on Netflix
Planetwalker by Nadia Gill & Dominic Gill | Watch Now
The Quilters by Jenifer McShane | Watch Trailer
Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr by Kimberly Reed | Watch Now
A Swim Lesson by Rashida Jones & Will McCormack | Watch Now
Until He’s Back by Jacqueline Baylon | Watch Now

Previous winner: The Last Repair Shop by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

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Best Live-Action Short

A Lien Short Film

Previous winner: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Wes Anderson

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Reaction

In the immediate aftermath, here are some quick impressions from S/W co-founder Jason Sondhi.

These shortlists are...good? An upward trend in the quality of the Animation and Documentary categories has been underway for a couple of years, but as recently as last January I called the Live-Action shortlist "embarrassing". This list is not that! Minimal star-chasing, vetted major festival winners, and even the films that didn't campaign hard, like A Lien, are excellent. A promising first year for the new short films branch.
Student Academy Awards Continue to Be Predictors. The Gold Medal winners in Animation, Documentary, and Narrative at October's ceremony all made it through to their respective shortlists, as did the narrative and animation silver medalists. It is the strongest showing of Student Oscar winners I can remember, and yet the continuation of a recent trend.
From Ground Zero Takes Shorts to the International Film Category. Palestine's official entry for the International Feature Film category progressed to the shortlist too. It is a short film anthology that we covered recently. Congrats to Rashid Masharawi and the entire team behind the project!
A-List Festivals at the Table. The top prize winners from festivals don't always fare well, but this year's shortlists have the reigning Cannes Palme d'or, Annecy Cristal, and Sundance Jury Prize winners.
Largely New Faces. Many of these filmmakers are well-known and well-regarded, but few have been up for Oscars before. This is somewhat unusual, as experienced producers and institutional players build up an advantage over time so you usually see the shortlists peppered with familiar faces. This year I spot Skye Fitzgerald and Torill Kove as directors who have been previously nominated, as well as...
Is it Hertzfeldt's Turn? The most famous and popular of the nominees, Hertzfeldt has been nominated twice before with Rejected and World of Tomorrow but has yet to take home a statuette. Will a third time be the charm? His rabid fan base will be hoping so.

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View Previous Oscar-nominated films, winners and further coverage from the awards on our dedicated channel.