Topline
The Academy announced shortlists of potential nominees in 10 key categories Tuesday, a crucial step on the road to the Academy Awards and a potential indicator of who might get nominated ahead of the Oscars ceremony in March, as French crime musical “Emilia Pérez” and Broadway adaptation “Wicked” lead the pack.
“Emilia Pérez” is expected to get multiple shortlist mentions. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) … [+]
Key Facts
“Emilia Pérez” was named to six shortlists, the most of any film, including the International Feature Film category as the French submission, as well as original score, makeup and hairstyling, sound and two contenders in original song.
“Wicked” is close behind with four shortlist mentions, and several films earned three mentions, including “Dune: Part Two,” “Alien: Romulus,” “Gladiator II,” “The Wild Robot” and “Blitz.”
The Academy’s shortlists of potential nominees will be narrowed down to a list of five nominees per category in January.
Shortlists were announced for visual effects, makeup and hairstyling, both music categories (score and song), sound, live action short film, animated short film, both documentary categories (feature film and short film) and international feature film.
The biggest categories—including Best Picture, acting categories, screenplay categories and directing—do not have shortlists, and Academy members will vote from the large pool of submissions with nominees announced in January.
Shortlist snubs and surprises could be early indicators of which movies are building momentum and might be headed toward big Oscar hauls—and which movies might be snubbed on Oscar nominations morning.
Documentary Feature Film
“The Bibi Files”
“Black Box Diaries”
“Dahomey”
“Daughters”
“Eno”
“Frida”
“Hollywoodgate”
“No Other Land”
“Porcelain War”
“Queendom”
“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
“Sugarcane”
“Union”
“Will & Harper”
Documentary Short Film
“Chasing Roo”
“Death by Numbers”
“Eternal Father”
“I Am Ready, Warden”
“Incident”
“Instruments of a Beating Heart”
“Keeper”
“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World”
“Once upon a Time in Ukraine”
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra”
“Planetwalker”
“The Quilters”
“Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr”
“A Swim Lesson”
“Until He’s Back”
International Feature Film
Brazil, “I’m Still Here”
Canada, “Universal Language”
Czech Republic, “Waves”
Denmark, “The Girl with the Needle”
France, “Emilia Pérez”
Germany, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Iceland, “Touch”
Ireland, “Kneecap”
Italy, “Vermiglio”
Latvia, “Flow”
Norway, “Armand”
Palestine, “From Ground Zero”
Senegal, “Dahomey”
Thailand, “How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies”
United Kingdom, “Santosh”
Makeup And Hairstyling
“The Apprentice”
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
“A Different Man”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Maria”
“Nosferatu”
“The Substance”
“Waltzing with Brando”
“Wicked”
Original Score
“Alien: Romulus”
“Babygirl”
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
“Blink Twice”
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Challengers”
“Conclave”
“Emilia Pérez”
“The Fire Inside”
“Gladiator II”
“Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1”
“Inside Out 2”
“Nosferatu”
“The Room Next Door”
“Sing Sing”
“The Six Triple Eight”
“Wicked”
“The Wild Robot”
“Young Woman and the Sea”
Original Song
“Forbidden Road” from “Better Man”
“Winter Coat” from “Blitz”
“Compress/Repress” from “Challengers”
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Sick In The Head” from “Kneecap”
“Beyond” from “Moana 2”
“Tell Me It’s You” from “Mufasa: The Lion King”
“Piece By Piece” from “Piece by Piece”
“Like A Bird” from “Sing Sing”
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”
“Out Of Oklahoma” from “Twisters”
“Kiss The Sky” from “The Wild Robot”
“Harper And Will Go West” from “Will & Harper”
Animated Short Film
“Au Revoir Mon Monde”
“A Bear Named Wojtek”
“Beautiful Men”
“Bottle George”
“A Crab in the Pool”
“In the Shadow of the Cypress”
“Magic Candies”
“Maybe Elephants”
“Me”
“Origami”
“Percebes”
“The 21”
“Wander to Wonder”
“The Wild-Tempered Clavier”
“Yuck!”
Live Action Short Film
“Anuja”
“Clodagh”
“The Compatriot”
“Crust”
“Dovecote”
“Edge of Space”
“The Ice Cream Man”
“I’m Not a Robot”
“The Last Ranger”
“A Lien”
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
“The Masterpiece”
“An Orange from Jaffa”
“Paris 70”
“Room Taken”
Sound
“Alien: Romulus”
“Blitz”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Deadpool & Wolverine”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Gladiator II”
“Joker: Folie à Deux”
“Wicked”
“The Wild Robot”
Visual Effects
“Alien: Romulus”
“Better Man”
“Civil War”
“Deadpool & Wolverine”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
“Mufasa: The Lion King”
“Twisters”
“Wicked”
Why Isn’t “all We Imagine As Light” A Best Foreign Language Film Nominee?
“All We Imagine as Light,” a critically adored film from India and a two-time Golden Globe nominee for best director (Payal Kapadia) and best foreign language film will not be among the shortlisted international feature film nominees. Countries vying for the International Feature Film Oscar (formerly known as the best foreign language film) must submit one film for consideration, and India’s Film Federation of India committee instead chose to submit “Laapataa Ladies,” which was considered a surprise after “All We Imagine as Light” won the prestigious Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival. FFI president Ravi Kottarakara compared “All We Imagine as Light”—about two Malayali nurses coping with loneliness and alienation in Mumbai—to a “European film taking place in India,” stating the jury favored the more traditional, Hindu-language “Laapataa Ladies.”
Can Shortlists Indicate Who Might Win Oscars?
Sometimes. The most-shortlisted films can typically expect to rack up key nominations and even wins on Oscars night, even in categories that don’t have shortlists, though they don’t always become the biggest winners. Last year’s most-shortlisted film was “Barbie,” which earned five mentions between the song, score and sound categories. Though “Barbie” ended up winning the best song Oscar, that was its only win from eight nominations. “Oppenheimer” took home a leading seven Oscars from 13 nominations despite earning just three shortlist mentions and suffering what was considered a snub from the visual effects shortlist. Previous Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All At Once” also wasn’t the most-shortlisted film, with its three mentions falling behind the five earned by “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
What’s Next In The Academy Awards Race?
Oscar nominations will be unveiled Jan. 17, and the ceremony will air on ABC and Hulu on March 2. But several other major awards bodies will have their say before, beginning with the Golden Globes on Jan. 5 and the Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 12. Like the Oscars, the British Academy Film Awards will unveil longlists on Jan. 3, followed by nominations on Jan. 15 and awards on Feb. 16. The Screen Actors Guild Awards will announce nominations on Jan. 8 and winners on Feb. 23.
Key Background
The Golden Globes were the first major awards body to reveal nominations last week, with “Emilia Pérez” leading the nominations and setting the all-time record for most nods in the musical/comedy categories, with 10 nominations. It is nominated for best picture, musical/comedy, and its actresses Karla Sofia Gascon—the first openly transgender woman nominated as a leading actress at the Globes—Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña all earned nods. “The Brutalist” and “Conclave” led the drama nominations with seven and six nods, respectively. Other films that earned nominations include “Anora,” “The Substance,” “Wicked” and “A Real Pain.”
Further Reading
Golden Globes 2025: ‘Emilia Pérez’ Leads Nominations, ‘Conclave’ And ‘The Brutalist’ Right Behind (Forbes)
Oscar Shortlists Predictions: ‘Emilia Perez’ and ‘Wicked’ Look to Lead the Pack as Awards Season Ramps Up (Variety)
