Oscars Shortlists Announced For 96th Academy Awards

Preparations continue on Thursday, March 24, 2022 for The Oscars® which will be presented on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre® in Hollywood, CA and televised live by the ABC Television Network. (Al Seib / ©A.M.P.A.S.)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced Oscars shortlists in 10 categories for the 96th Academy Awards. The categories are as follows: Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound and Visual Effects.

The announcement of Oscars shortlists precedes the next phase in voting leading up to the 96th Academy Awards, taking place on March 10, 2024.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Feature Film category for the 96th Academy Awards. One hundred sixty-seven films were eligible in the category. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

  • “American Symphony”
  • “Apolonia, Apolonia”
  • “Beyond Utopia”
  • “Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
  • “Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy”
  • “The Eternal Memory”
  • “Four Daughters”
  • “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”
  • “In the Rearview”
  • “Stamped from the Beginning”
  • “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”
  • “A Still Small Voice”
  • “32 Sounds”
  • “To Kill a Tiger”
  • “20 Days in Mariupol”

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Short Film category for the 96th Academy Awards. One hundred fourteen films qualified in the category. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

  • “The ABCs of Book Banning”
  • “The Barber of Little Rock”
  • “Bear”
  • “Between Earth & Sky”
  • “Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games”
  • “Camp Courage”
  • “Deciding Vote”
  • “How We Get Free”
  • “If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis”
  • “Island in Between”
  • “The Last Repair Shop”
  • “Last Song from Kabul”
  • “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó”
  • “Oasis”
  • “Wings of Dust”

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 96th Academy Awards. Films from 88 countries and regions were eligible in the category.

Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.

In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

  • Armenia, “Amerikatsi”
  • Bhutan, “The Monk and the Gun”
  • Denmark, “The Promised Land”
  • Finland, “Fallen Leaves”
  • France, “The Taste of Things”
  • Germany, “The Teachers’ Lounge”
  • Iceland, “Godland”
  • Italy, “Io Capitano”
  • Japan, “Perfect Days”
  • Mexico, “Totem”
  • Morocco, “The Mother of All Lies”
  • Spain, “Society of the Snow”
  • Tunisia, “Four Daughters”
  • Ukraine, “20 Days in Mariupol”
  • United Kingdom, “The Zone of Interest”

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Ten films will advance in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 96th Academy Awards. All members of the Academy’s Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Sunday, January 14, 2024. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Fifteen scores will advance in the Original Score category for the 96th Academy Awards. One hundred forty-eight scores were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The scores, listed in alphabetical order by film title, are:

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

Fifteen songs will advance in the Original Song category for the 96th Academy Awards. Ninety-four songs were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:

  • “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”
  • “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from “Asteroid City”
  • “Dance The Night” from “Barbie”
  • “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”
  • “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”
  • “Keep It Movin’” from “The Color Purple”
  • “Superpower (I)” from “The Color Purple”
  • “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”
  • “High Life” from “Flora and Son”
  • “Meet In The Middle” from “Flora and Son”
  • “Can’t Catch Me Now” from “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”
  • “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Quiet Eyes” from “Past Lives”
  • “Road To Freedom” from “Rustin”
  • “Am I Dreaming” from “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Animated Short Film category for the 96th Academy Awards. Ninety-three films qualified in the category. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

  • “Boom”
  • “Eeva”
  • “Humo (Smoke)”
  • “I’m Hip”
  • “A Kind of Testament”
  • “Koerkorter (Dog Apartment)”
  • “Letter to a Pig”
  • “Ninety-Five Senses”
  • “Once upon a Studio”
  • “Our Uniform”
  • “Pachyderme”
  • “Pete”
  • “27”
  • “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”
  • “Wild Summon”

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Live Action Short Film category for the 96th Academy Awards. One hundred eighty-seven films qualified in the category. For the first time, Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.

In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

  • “The After”
  • “The Anne Frank Gift Shop”
  • “An Avocado Pit”
  • “Bienvenidos a Los Angeles”
  • “Dead Cat”
  • “Good Boy”
  • “Invincible”
  • “Invisible Border”
  • “Knight of Fortune”
  • “The One Note Man”
  • “Red, White and Blue”
  • “The Shepherd”
  • “Strange Way of Life”
  • “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”
  • “Yellow”

SOUND

Ten films will advance in the Sound category for the 96th Academy Awards. All eligible members of the Sound Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. Academy members will be invited to view excerpts from each of the shortlisted films beginning Thursday, January 11, 2024, in the San Francisco Bay area, followed by London, Los Angeles and New York. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

VISUAL EFFECTS

Ten films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 96th Academy Awards. The Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 13, 2024. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

  • “The Creator”
  • “Godzilla Minus One”
  • “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
  • “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
  • “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”
  • “Napoleon”
  • “Poor Things”
  • “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire”
  • “Society of the Snow”
  • “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Following the Oscars shortlists announcement, the next phase in nominations voting begins on Thursday, January 11, 2024, and concludes on Tuesday, January 16, 2024. The nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2024.

The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

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Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.