Today marks a further narrowing of the field in the race for the Short Film Oscars, as the announcement of the nominations reduces the pool from 45 contenders to just 15 films - five nominees in each of the three categories: Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film, and Best Live Action Short Film.

As the final cut before the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 15, this stage reveals which campaigns have successfully gained momentum and which filmmakers now have a genuine chance of taking home one of the film industry’s most prestigious honors.

We already picked our favorites - in our Voter's Guide - but here are the official 2026 Nominees:

Best Animated Short

[caption id="attachment_41670" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Retirement Plan Short film

John Kelly's Retirement Plan is one of the S/W team's favorites in the Best Animated Short Film category[/caption]

Papillon (Butterfly) by Florence Miailhe | Film Page
Forevergreen by Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears | Watch Trailer
La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles (The Girl Who Cried Pearls) by Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski | Watch Trailer
Retirement Plan by John Kelly | Watch Film | S/W Article
The Three Sisters by Timur Kognov | Watch Trailer

Previous winner: In the Shadow of the Cypress by Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani

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Best Documentary Short

[caption id="attachment_41987" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

perfectly a strangeness was described by S/W curator Jason Sondhi as "the sort of outside-the-box selection I would like the Academy to increasingly recognize"[/caption]

All the Empty Rooms by Joshua Seftel | Watch Film (Netflix Online)
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud by Craig Renaud & Brent Renaud | Watch Film (HBO Max only)
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” by Hilla Medalia | Watch Trailer
The Devil Is Busy by Geeta Gandbhir & Christalyn Hampton | Watch Film (HBO Max only)
Perfectly a Strangeness by Alison McAlpine | Watch Trailer

Previous winner: The Only Girl in the Orchestra by Molly O'Brien

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Best Live-Action Short

[caption id="attachment_41582" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

Two People Exchanging Saliva was featured on Short of the Week in Nov 2025[/caption]

Butcher’s Stain by Meyer Levinson-Blount | Watch Trailer
A Friend of Dorothy by Lee Knight | Film Page
Jane Austen’s Period Drama by Steve Pinder & Julia Aks | Film Page
The Singers by Sam Davis | Watch Trailer
Two People Exchanging Saliva by Alexandre Singh & Natalie Musteata | Watch Film | S/W Article

Previous winner: I'm Not a Robot by Victoria Warmerdam

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