2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation (2018)

2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

The year’s most spectacular Documentary short films.

Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers

Darby Clyde Fenster and Jerry Martin are a pair of penniless nincompoop-drifters who hop a freight train on their way to Florida. Our intrepid heroes find themselves facing one comic situation after another in this gloriously loopy Southern fried comedy-with-music.

The Bigshot

THE BIG SHOT, a stunning new action short film. Made in the 3TC film/theatre class of an “average” high school.

Beyond Paper

At a critical moment in the history of the written word, as humanity’s archives migrate to the cloud, one filmmaker goes on a journey around the globe to better understand how she can preserve her own Romanian and Armenian heritage, as well as our collective memory. Blending the intellectual with the poetic, she embarks on a personal quest with universal resonance, navigating the continuum between paper and digital—and reminding us that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.

It's On 2

The famous Teahupoo wave, nicknamed "the perfect wave", was bigger than ever in 2019. In August 2019, mountains of water dropped on the coral reef like bombs. Towed by jet skis, local surfers tried and succeeded what seemed impossible. Bravery and dauntless! Commented by seasoned Tahitians like Kévin Bourez, Matahi Drollet, Kauli Vaast or Ariihoe Tefaafana who share this unique experience, their fear and pride to have faced heights never seen before. The Polynesians have proven that they are the best, that the Teahupoo wave is "made for them". Unforgettable images, interviews and testimonies… It has become an unmissable event for riders and those who love the beauty of the Pacific Islands. No need to be interested in surfing to appreciate spectacular performances. This is a pure wave of pleasure for the eyes. A wave of emotion with these “aito” (heroes in Tahitian) of surfing, who share a part of the Polynesian culture.

It has to be lived once and dreamed twice

In the sixth great mass mortality of the earth, humankind became extinct. Their technology had recently progressed so far as to deconstruct the algorithms of evolution and allow artificial life to develop on Earth.

Leaving on the 15th Spring

Junior high school student Yuna lives with her father Toshiharu. Her mother Akemi moved to Naha when her older sister entered high school, and Yuna is worried about her father's life after she leaves.

May Morning

A dramatic and penetrating examination of the intellectual and moral standards existing at Oxford University, England, in the early 1970s.

Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita

Salve, a content barrio lass, is married to Alfred, an aspiring politician. Alfred meets Via finds out that they can both be very useful to each other's lives. He is set on pursuing a political career and Via is from a powerful political family that wants to continue to govern the land. Together, Albert and Via plan a scheme to get rid of Salve. But Salve survives the carnage. Salve takes revenge.

Schwestern

The happening of a ceremonial robing of the youngest daughter as a novice in a Swabian convent screws up the values of a modern family. As if life wasn't complicated enough anyway. And how are you supposed to be happy without new clothes?

Le tre vite di Donato Bilancia

Plot unavailable

Acústico MTV: Cidade Negra

This acoustic album features the band's main successes, played in the MTV Acústico house-style.

Are We Civilized?

1934 drama of man's inhumanity to man, starring William Farnum and Anita Louise, directed by Edwin Carewe, screenplay by Harold Sherman. This film was meant to denounce Hitler prior to US involvement in WWII

Imbued Life

A young woman’s connection with the life force of nature. Using her taxidermy talents to “return” the animals to their natural habitat. But the true search for answers begins when she finds a roll of undeveloped film in each of the animals that she treats.

Terminus

824 years in the future, warring tribes battle for a dying Earth’s scant resources. The subterranean Kukeri prepare for a siege on the stronghold of their nemesis Dr. Nihil. Dissension among their ranks may undo them if blood thirsty replicants, ripper winds, and unforgiving heat don’t. Welcome to the end.

Puss in Boots

Long before he even met Shrek, the notorious fighter, lover and outlaw Puss in Boots becomes a hero when he sets off on an adventure with the tough and street smart Kitty Softpaws and the mastermind Humpty Dumpty to save his town. This is the true story of The Cat, The Myth, The Legend... The Boots.

Zoon

Residing in a dark swamp at the bottom of a nocturnal forest, a group of gleaming axolotls pursue lustful games. The creatures relish nuzzling one another and nibbling their companions’ limbs.

Shrek 2

Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's mother and father, the Queen and King. But not everyone is happily ever after. Shrek and the King find it difficult to get along, and there's tension in the marriage. The Fairy Godmother discovers that Fiona has married Shrek instead of her son Prince Charming and plots to destroy their marriage.

Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy

An "electronic puppet" version of the Humperdinck opera, adapted for children and using spoken dialogue as well as Humperdinck's music.

Farewell, My Dear Cramer: First Touch

14-year-old Nozomi Onda has only one thing on her mind: playing beautiful soccer. There's just one problem: no matter how much she longs to participate in official matches, she'd have physically superior boys as opponents. But when a boy from her past confronts her on the street, she decides she can't wait any longer.

A Wooden Toy Dreamed of Paper Boats

An ancient fleet of paper boats is enslaved by the music of a record player; when it breaks down, the boats see an opportunity to rebel.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack's rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.

Nursery Rhyme Review

A compilation of four Mother Goose stories "photographed in three-dimensional animation" and unified by a prologue and an epilogue with Mother Goose herself magically setting up a projector to show the films. The familiar nursery rhymes are "Little Miss Muffet," "Old Mother Hubbard," "The Queen of Hearts," and "Humpty Dumpty." Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2004.

Made in Spain

An absent-minded traveler arrives at a Spanish beach where chaos is about to break out. (Followed by Mad in Xpain, 2020.)

James and the Giant Peach

When the young orphan boy James spills a magic bag of crocodile tongues, he finds himself in possession of a giant peach that flies him away to strange lands.

Cinderella

Cinderella has faith her dreams of a better life will come true. With help from her loyal mice friends and a wave of her Fairy Godmother's wand, Cinderella's rags are magically turned into a glorious gown and off she goes to the Royal Ball. But when the clock strikes midnight, the spell is broken, leaving a single glass slipper... the only key to the ultimate fairy-tale ending!

All's Fair in Love & Friendship Games

Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops, high school girls, are best friends and think alike in many ways. For an upcoming competition between schools, they both apply for positions in their school's team. Trying to win the position, they start competing against each other and show-off their skills.

The Super Elfkins

Helvi's world is turned upside down when she discovers the existence of a technically advanced Elfkin gang that, in stark contrast to Elfie’s own clan, is second to none when it comes to fun and thrill-seeking. Can Helvi’s friendship with Bo, the youngest gang member, reconcile the two Elfkin clans after more than 250 years?

Presto

Dignity. Poise. Mystery. We expect nothing less from the great turn-of-the-century magician, Presto. But when Presto neglects to feed his rabbit one too many times, the magician finds he isn't the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve!

Lifted

When an overconfident teen alien gets behind the controls of a spaceship, he must attempt to abduct a slumbering farmer under the watchful eye of a critical instructor. But abducting humans requires precision and a gentle touch, and within a few missteps it's painfully clear why more humans don't go missing every year.

Your Friend the Rat

Let's face it, rats are not the most beloved creatures on earth. However, maybe this little tale about the history of human and rat interaction will change the world's tune. At least that is the hope of Remy, the star of Ratatouille, and his reluctant brother Emile as they guide us through world history from a rat's perspective. Why can't we all just get along?

Boundin'

On a high mountain plain lives a lamb with wool of such remarkable sheen that he breaks into high-steppin' dance. But there comes a day when he loses his lustrous coat and, along with it, his pride. It takes a wise jackalope - a horn-adorned rabbit - to teach the moping lamb that wooly or not, it's what's inside that'll help him rebound from life's troubles.

Old Czech Legends

A monumental piece of art bringing the heroes of the ancient Czech myths back to life. The picture consists of seven parts: Cech the Forefather, Bivoj, Libuse, Premysl, Girls War, Horymir, Lucka War.

The Good Soldier Schweik

Adapting Jaroslav Hasek's raucous satirical novel, and also bringing Josef Lada's equally famous illustrations to garrulous puppet life, posed Trnka one of his biggest creative challenges. Trnka himself felt that the final episode was the most artistically successful, but there's much to enjoy in all three, not least the way that the lackadaisical layabout Svejk's own self-serving anecdotes are realized through cut-out animation.

Eight Crazy Nights

Davey Stone, a 33-year old party animal, finds himself in trouble with the law after his wild ways go too far.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Sam the snowman tells us the story of a young red-nosed reindeer who, after being ousted from the reindeer games because of his glowing nose, teams up with Hermey, an elf who wants to be a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, the prospector. They run into the Abominable Snowman and find a whole island of misfit toys. Rudolph vows to see if he can get Santa to help the toys, and he goes back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. But Santa's sleigh is fogged in. But when Santa looks over Rudolph, he gets a very bright idea...

Shrek the Halls

The Christmas tree isn't the only thing green in this new holiday classic. Shrek is back and trying to get into the spirit of the season. After promising Fiona and the kids a Christmas they'll remember, he is forced to take a crash course in the holiday. But just when he thinks he has everything for their quiet family Christmas just right, there is a knock at the door.

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Feeling forgotten by the children of the world, old St. Nick decides to skip his gift-giving journey and take a vacation. Mrs. Claus and two spunky little elves, Jingle and Jangle, set out to see to where all the season's cheer has disappeared. Aided by a magical snowfall, they reawaken the spirit of Christmas in children's hearts and put Santa back in action.

Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire

Robbie the Reindeer arrives at the North Pole, ready to take his place as navigator on Santa's Christmas sleigh team. However, Robbie is soon plagued by doubt regarding his ability, and sets out to regain his self-respect and the admiration of his team-mates.

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

A postman, S.D. Kluger, decides to answer some of the most common questions about Santa Claus, and tells us about a baby named Kris who is raised by a family of elf toymakers named Kringle. When Kris grows up, he wants to deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. But its Mayor is too mean to let that happen. And to make things worse, the Winter Warlock lives between the Kringles and Sombertown.

BURN·E

What lengths will a robot undergo to do his job? BURN·E is a dedicated hard working robot who finds himself locked out of his ship. BURN·E quickly learns that completing a simple task can often be a very difficult endeavor.

A Grand Day Out

Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese, and this provides an excellent excuse for the duo to take their holiday to the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

The Wrong Trousers

Wallace rents out Gromit's former bedroom to a penguin, who takes up an interest in the techno pants created by Wallace. However, Gromit later learns that the penguin is a wanted criminal. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

A Close Shave

Wallace's whirlwind romance with the proprietor of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin, and Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal, Gromit, investigate a mystery in Nick Park's animated adventure, in which the lovable inventor and his intrepid pup run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods that turn their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.

Noise of the World

A composer is afflicted by a strange illness: he can hear every noise in the world. Through his music, he will find a way to keep the noise under control.

Strike

A young mole must try to achieve his impossible dream of becoming a footballer in order to save his hometown gold mine from a greedy supervillain known only as 'The Boss'.

Prehistoric Beast

In a dense forest, a monoceratops-type plant-eating dinosaur is stalked by a carnivorous Tyrannosaurus rex.

Pasaka par vērdiņu

Plot unavailable

Mad in Xpain

In a post-apocalyptic Spain different tribes survive, struggling to take control of the only existing sustenance: a red wine of negligible quality. (A sequel to Made in Spain, 2016.)

My Green Crocodile

A green crocodile who loves flowers and leaves falls in love with a pretty cow.

The Cat's Mill

A white cat owns a mill, but loses the mill to a black cat and the devil. Latvian animation.

For Sock's Sake

Stop-motion animated short produced as a film student graduation project at the Gobelins Animation School of Paris by Carlo Vogele, class of 2008, leading to a career as a character animator at Pixar. It was selected as the winner of the Best Graduation Film award the following year at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

Eden

Rufina is ready to spend a field day, surrounded by peace and pleasant nature, will it be as simple as it seems?

Happily N'Ever After

An alliance of evil-doers, led by Frieda, looks to take over Fairy Tale Land. But when Ella realizes her stepmother is out to ruin her storybook existence, she takes a dramatic turn and blossoms into the leader of the resistance effort.

Chainsaw Bunny

Two bunny girls get in trouble..... From the creator of CHAINSAW MAID and PUSSYCAT, another gory horror clay animation comes!! Never ending splatter carnival has begun!!

Experimental Animation

Len Lye scraped together enough funding and borrowed equipment to produce a two-minute short featuring his self-made monkey, singing and dancing to 'Peanut Vendor', a 1931 jazz hit for Red Nichols. The two foot high monkey had bolted, moveable joints and some 50 interchangeable mouths to convey the singing. To get the movements right, Lye filmed his new wife, Jane, a prize-winning rumba dancer.

Liminal Roots

A journey through the memories of a young girl struggling to come to terms with the complexity of her mixed-raced identity.

Chicken Run

The creators of Wallace & Gromit bring you an exciting and original story about a group of chickens determined to fly the coop–even if they can’t fly! It’s hardly poultry in motion when Rocky attempts to teach Ginger and her feathered friends to fly…but, with teamwork, determination and a little bit o’ cluck, the fearless flock plots one last attempt in a spectacular bid for freedom.

Tengers

Whilst working on "the great South African novel," an unemployed writer gets caught up in the harsh realities of life in the city of Johannesburg.