Dec 2, 2022

11 Notable Films Competing for the 2023 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

A number of animated short films have been announced as Oscar contenders for the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony.

In fact, we have published three lists, which can be found here.

Below we present 11 films with strong merit that Academy voters cannot afford to miss. Each film qualifies for the award by winning a specific award at a festival eligible for the Academy Awards or by meeting specific public release criteria on or before September 30, 2022.

Director Juan Pablo Salamera

Country Argentina

Qualifying: Set on a passenger train, the film depicts the awkward social dynamics between one man and various passengers with a touch of humor and absurdity. Using paper dolls, the film depicts, with a light touch, people trying to make their own way in an implicit social norm.

Director Bill Joyce

Country USA

Qualifying: Mr. Spam is a shy and repressive inventor. His job at his boring factory is to have his hat (and head) smashed with a giant hammer every day. With each passing day, his dreams of creativity and his love of Dot, his artist and neighbor, are literally shattered to pieces. This charming and refreshing CG animation is a cross between the silent films of Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and Alice in Wonderland.

Directed by Spencer Sasser

Country of Origin UK, USA

Qualifying: voiced by Ricky Jarvais, Zac Efron and Taika Waititi. This stop-motion short film mixes comedy and horror as we observe the daily life of Ralph the rabbit (voiced by Waititi), who undergoes cruel experiments while testing cosmetics. An emotional and empathetic piece that will stay with you long after the film is over.

Directors Lorenzo Degl Innocenti and Zosé Zapata

Countries of Origin Spain, Portugal

Qualifier: Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film

Although somewhat unknown as a qualifier, the film is a historic computer animation film that won the Spanish Academy Award (Goya Award) for Best Short In the 1500s, a castaway on a ship from Portugal bound for England is mistaken for an enemy soldier, captured in Ireland, tried, and executed. The prisoner was a monkey. Don't be fooled by the seemingly comical premise. Although the film is aimed primarily at a younger audience and is predominantly a linear narrative, The Monkey is a powerful allegory about xenophobia, war, political corruption and manipulation.

Directed by Sawako Kabuki

Country of Origin France, Japan

Qualifying: Best Animated Short Film, Guanajuato International Film Festival

Always versatile and often obscene, Sawako Kabuki's somewhat subdued film, "I'm Late" is a film about visually striking documentary about the reactions of different people when their partner's period is late. It is one of the most original animated documentaries we have seen. As people from all walks of life share their conflicting emotions and fears, Kabuki creates a series of beautifully surreal images that flow in and out of view incessantly. Funny, strange, and refreshingly honest and informative.

Director Joanna Kozuch

Country of Origin Slovakia, Poland

Qualifying: Main Prize: Anifilm

Fascinating, haunting and heartbreaking, Kozuch's short film is about a place once called the Aral Sea It is a documentary about a place once called the Aral Sea. What once gave life, love, and community is now barren. People from all walks of life share their memories and dreams about the once great sea. Interweaving ink, photographs, and watercolor paintings, the film presents a powerful ecological message about the serious consequences of thoughtless and selfish human behavior.

Director Britt Reyes

Contestants France, Belgium, Netherlands

Qualification: Exhibition

This short film focuses on a young girl in a happy village accidentally destroyed by a rock creature. Luce seeks out the rock and comes to understand more about him and his way of life. Beautifully designed in a mix of blues, reds, and yellows, Director Reyes constructs a timeless and tender story about tolerance, compassion, and understanding.

Directors Urška Juki and Emilie Pijar

Country of production Slovenia, France

Qualifying: the harsh sexual realities of womanhood in early 20th century Slovenia, with live action, documentary footage and intentionally vulgar drawings, is a complex and somewhat complex and somewhat shocking memories to breathe life into.

Director Marie Larivet

Country France

Qualifying: Grand Prix - Uppsala International Short Film Festival

Dino and her teenage daughter travel to southern Italy to have their DNA tested. The police have discovered the body of a man who may be Dino's father, who disappeared decades ago. With its bold mix of colors and painterly style that is at times chilling and dreamlike, Black Sun is a suspenseful and moving story about natural disasters, hidden secrets, and an unexpected and hopeful new path for a daughter seeking connection with a father lost in a painful past.

Director: Andrej Jobczyk

Country: Poland

Qualifier: Best Short Film (Short Shorts Film Festival)

Just as he is about to shoot down an enemy fighter jet, a fighter pilot distracted by a mosquito crash-lands into a tree branch. After tragedy strikes, this minimalist, beautifully designed work with warm colors takes an unexpected turn into a surreal, sensual, healing story of renewal and hope.

Director:, Georges Schwizgebel

Country Switzerland

Qualifier: Hiroshima Animation Season / BAFTA (Best Animated Short)

It is somewhat surprising that one of the masters of animation has never been nominated for an Academy Award. It is somewhat surprising that one of the masters of animation has never been nominated for an Academy Award. Schwizgebel's work is consistently beautiful and well-crafted. His latest film, Darwin's Notebook, is about Charles Darwin's encounter with three natives on a ship and their experience of being kidnapped. The film has been well received, but it is doubtful that a white man telling another white man's story about the aboriginal experience, even if compassionate, will be accepted by North Americans.