2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation (2018)

2018 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

The year’s most spectacular Documentary short films.

Boudica

Inspired by events in A.D. 60, Boudica follows the eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband Prasutagus. When he dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, Boudica’s kingdom is left without a male heir and the Romans seize her land and property. Driven to the edge of madness and determined to avenge her husband’s death, Boudica rallies the various tribes from the region and wages an epic war against the mighty Roman empire.

Taxidermia

Grotesquely surreal offering charting three male generations of the same bizarre family, including a pervert who constantly seeks for new kinds of satisfaction, an obese speed eater, and a passionate embalmer.

Secret Name

Nelie escaped a miserable existence by becoming a frontline nurse in 1914. One day, she takes the identity of Rose, a young woman from a good family, who dies in front of her. She presents herself in her place at Madame de Lengwil's house, to become the reader of this wealthy woman.

F

A group of teachers must defend themselves from a gang of murderous kids when their school comes under siege after hours.

Armor

Armored truck security guard James Brody is working with his son Casey transporting millions of dollars between banks when a team of thieves led by Rook orchestrate a takeover of their truck to seize the riches. Following a violent car chase, Rook soon has the armored truck surrounded and James and Casey find themselves cornered onto a decrepit bridge.

Opus

A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared thirty years ago. Surrounded by the star's cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.

Robot Apocalypse

An expert hacker is targeted by a sentient AI after she realizes the threat it poses, and she must try to stay off its radar long enough to stop it.

Soulcatcher

A military contractor hired to seize a weapon that turns people into savage killers seeks revenge when his brother falls victim to the device.

The Last Week of September

Pietro Rinaldi, an elderly writer, widower and tired of life, plans to commit suicide on his birthday. After the sudden and tragic death of his daughter and son-in-law, Pietro will have to look after his teenage nephew Mattia.

Blood

Jess, a newly separated mother and nurse, moves into her old family farmhouse with Tyler, her teenage daughter, and Owen, her eight-year-old son. One night, the family dog senses something in the woods and runs off to find it. He returns a couple of days later and attacks Owen, savagely biting him before Jess is able to intervene. Owen is rushed to the hospital. His condition worsens, and no one can figure out why... until Jess discovers a disturbing cure...

The Accursed

Hana spends twenty years suppressing a maleficent curse that was placed upon her bloodline, only to have a family member knowingly release it forcing her to kill or to be killed.

National Family

Don Poli, the patriarch of a family embedded in politics, faces the change of party in his state - after a hundred years in power - losing all his privileges. Humiliated and angry, he threatens to disinherit his family and leave to rebuild his life. This forces his children (Kippy, Ramses and Belén) to take extreme measures to ensure their future, causing everything that could go wrong to turn out worse.

Attack

With the Parliament under siege, India’s first super soldier Arjun Shergill is tasked to get hold of the terrorists in time, save the Prime Minister from their clutches and stop a dirty bomb from exploding and destroying Delhi.

Mission: Cross

In the ultimate test of marriage, an agent-turned-househusband gets tangled in a perilous mission with his detective wife, who's clueless about his past.

The Masked Saint

The journey of a professional wrestler who becomes a small town pastor and moonlights as a masked vigilante fighting injustice. While facing crises at home and at the church, the Pastor must evade the police and somehow reconcile his violent secret identity with his calling as a pastor.

Afire

Self-important author Leon joins his best friend on a summer holiday near the Baltic Sea to complete his novel. When they arrive, they find their house is already occupied by a carefree woman who challenges Leon to open up. Meanwhile, forest wildfires rage around them and impending disaster looms.

Hunters

As John T. Wrecker continues his task of protecting a group of refugees from a virus, the threat of something new and even more dangerous grows ever closer in the form of monstrous mutants.

The Master and Margarita

A writer in 1930s Moscow has his work banned and is expelled from the official union, leaving him without income. He then writes a novel about a mysterious dark visitor and gradually starts confusing his real life with the story.

Malum

A rookie police officer willingly takes the last shift at a newly decommissioned police station in an attempt to uncover the mysterious connection between her father's death and a vicious cult.

24 Hours with Gaspar

With only 24 hours left to live, a private investigator follows a trail of confounding clues to uncover the disappearance of his childhood friend.

Busty Girlfriend

Mincheol and Suhee go to greet Minchul father (grandmother) before marriage. Dae - sik welcomes her daughter - in - law, Su - hee. But before marriage, Minchol and Suhee are separated by the difference in personality. Soon-hee, who was only preparing for marriage, is soon to live.

Grey Eyes

In a post-apocalyptic future, mankind is color blind. A brilliant scientist suddenly dies, leaving his precious briefcase-filled with a highly-addictive synthetic drug that allows people to see colors again-to Ana, a mere 12-year-old girl. Possession of the briefcase makes her the target of a doctor with wicked plans for the drug, and her only hope to escape his pursuit relies on the aid of the dead scientist's two devoted bodyguards. Together, their epic, perilous journey pivots on a tremendous secret: Ana herself could be the key to salvaging a world in ruins.

Touch

Soon after the break of the pandemic and realizing that his clock is ticking, Kristofer gets the urge to embark on a journey to try to find out what really happened when his Japanese girlfriend mysteriously vanished without a trace from London fifty years earlier.

Untamed Royals

A group of wealthy teenagers commit crimes that escalate from petty mischief to dangerous plots, causing chaotic consequences — but not for themselves.

Dead

Dane ‘Marbles’ Marbeck can see ghosts, thanks to a homemade drug: his late father’s neurological medication mixed with marijuana. Officer Jayson Tagg, a wannabe super-cop on the trail of a serial killer, ends up murdered. So when Marbles’ mum plans to sell the family farm, and the only way of buying the house off her is taking the money offered by Tagg in exchange for his help, Marbles accepts. The unlikely duo of stoner medium and ghost cop struggle to reconcile their differences while they navigate their way through ghouls, perverts, a mysterious hooded figure, and an unexpected shot at love. It becomes clear the only way Marbles and Tagg will solve the case with their souls intact is to confront their deepest regrets and overcome their prejudices.

Dear David

Shortly after comic artist Adam responds to Internet trolls, he begins experiencing sleep paralysis. As he chronicles increasingly malevolent occurrences in a series of tweets, Adam begins to believe he is being haunted by the ghost of a dead child named David.

Cosmic Chaos

Battles in virtual reality, survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a Soviet spaceship giving a distress signal - Fantastic stories created with advanced special effects and passion.

Bender: Gold of the Empire

The hunt for imperial gold continues. A priceless scepter, a treasure that could secure a worry-free life in sunny Rio de Janeiro for Ibrahim Bender and his young apprentice Ostap, has slipped from under their noses and ended up in possession of Nestor Makhno, an anarchist army commander. Makhno is convinced that the scepter is one of many imperial relics hidden in the area. With mafia, partisans, and officers of the Red and White armies all determined to get their hands on the fabled gold cache, Ostap and his mentor Ibrahim must surpass their own brilliance to outmaneuver their rivals and snatch the prize. And with Ostap’s beloved fair maiden losing her trust in him, he must do everything in his power to win her back and stop her from marrying another man.

Sayen: Desert Road

Sayen follows a lead to the picturesque desolation of the Atacama Desert. There, she reluctantly teams up with a young Atacameño girl, Quimal, looking to clear her father’s name and save her town from becoming an arid wasteland due to Acteon’s exploitative water usage.

Wyrmwood: Apocalypse

In a zombie-infested Australian wasteland, soldier Rhys has dedicated his life to tracking and capturing survivors for the Surgeon General in hopes of finding a cure.

Granit

Mozambique requests from Russia is being helped in the fight against militants of the "Islamic State" and a special group led by a commander with the call sign Granit is coming to the country.

Abigail

A group of criminals kidnap a teenage ballet dancer, the daughter of a notorious gang leader, in order to obtain a ransom of $50 million, but over time, they discover that she is not just an ordinary girl. After the kidnappers begin to diminish, one by one, they discover, to their increasing horror, that they are locked inside with no normal little girl.

The Well

A young restorer travels to a small village to restore a medieval painting to its former glory. She will put her life in danger due to a curse attached to the painting.

Spitfire Over Berlin

August 1944. With the American Eighth Air Force poised to strike over Nazi Germany, British Intelligence learns that they could be flying into a deadly trap. With only hours to spare, Flight Lieutenant Edward Barnes must fly a life and death mission over Berlin in his unarmed Spitfire to obtain photographic evidence and save the lives of 1200 men.

Piece by Piece

A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.

La Dama del Corvette

No one could've ever imagined that this beautiful women who never leaves her sports car has the guts to collect debts in cold blood.

Love Lies Bleeding

Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.

The Aeronauts

A tribe survives in the middle of the desert on the meager pickings of a barren landscape. Soo'goh, the weakest member of the clan, seeks to overcome all obstacles and to reach the green pastures of the paradise that they all yearn for.

Captain: The Movie

Taniguchi was appointed captain of the weak Sumiya Junior High School baseball team, and with his natural fighting spirit, he helped the team grow to the point where they advanced to the regional qualifiers. This theatrical film version, released after the two TV specials, depicts the great progress of Sumiya Junior High School during the Taniguchi era.

Zeb's Spider

An eight-legged force of fate spins a complex web of darkness and humour in Alicia Eisen and Sophie Jarvis’s animated short.

Pinkie Spy

Rainbow Dash tries to spy on Crystal Prep Academy's sports team, but Pinkie Pie ruins her attempts to remain unseen.

Sweet Dreams

A cupcake escapes a city of sweets and is marooned on an island with vegetables where he learns to reform his destructive ways in this tasty stop-motion from the talented Kirsten Lepore.

The Grandpa and His Little Grandson

The bear cub, who was in winter hibernation, was brought by friends in the forest to the Forest Sports School, where he learned figure skating.

Tangled

Feisty teenager Rapunzel, who has long and magical hair, wants to go and see sky lanterns on her eighteenth birthday, but she's bound to a tower by her overprotective mother. She strikes a deal with Flynn Rider, a charming wanted thief, and the duo set off on an action-packed escapade.

The Wind in the Willows

One spring, Mole decides that he can ignore the spring cleaning for a little longer, and begins a series of adventures with his new friend Rat. They go for a picnic on the riverbank, on a caravan expedition with Toad, until Toad switches allegiance to his new car and his reckless driving makes Mole and Rat search out Badger for help in curbing Toad's profligate habits. But Toad gets away from them and gets a 20-year sentence from the magistrate for theft, reckless driving, and Gross Impertinence. While Toad works his wiles on the jailer's daughter and escapes jail dressed as a washer woman, Badger tries to guard Toad Hall from the machinations of the Weasels and is badly beaten. And it requires a plan of attack and all four comrades to regain Toad Hall.

Speeding, of Course

70-year-old Timo makes the most of his short ride to work. Speeding up on a bicycle ends up in a ditch, but the adrenaline rush leaves a feeling of pleasure.

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.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. When a documentarian discovers them amongst the clutter of his Airbnb, his resulting short film brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family.

Dragfox

Sam's search for identity gets interrupted by a mysterious neighbourhood fox. Together they embark on a magical journey to the attic to discover the surprising things they might have in common, and how to celebrate the ways in which they differ.

The Little Matchgirl

An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.

Attack of the Super Monsters

In the near future it's discovered that the dinosaurs did not die off, but instead live on near the center of the Earth. The evil lord Tyrannus uses the mutated dinosaurs descendents to attack Earth in his effort to rule the world. Can Gemini Force, a group of four superpowered teens who've pledged to protect the Earth, stop his plans? Written by Mike Konczewski 70 millions years ago, the creatures known as dinosaurs mysteriously disappeared from planet Earth. Until now, it was assumed they were extinct. In reality, they had burrowed deep into the Earth and evolved into supermonsters. In the year 2000, the people from planet Earth were amazed and terrified by the greatest catastrophe ever known to mankind: the re-appearance of the dinosaurs. Under the direction of their emperor, Tyrannus, the creatures now seek to destroy mankind.

Blue Thermal

Tamaki becomes a captive of the vast beauty of the skies from the moment Kuramochi takes her under his wing and up for a flight in a glider.

Blood Tea and Red String

The aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak battle over the doll of their hearts' desire.

Drowning

Animation by Ginko Abe. Music by Abhi Tambe.

Zero

In a world that judges people by their number, Zero faces constant prejudice and persecution. He walks a lonely path until a chance encounter changes his life forever: he meets a female zero. Together they prove that through determination, courage, and love, nothing can be truly something.

In There

This story is about a place long ago, before birth and before death, that everyone knows and no one knows.

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.

Shaun the Sheep: Party Animals

There's no disguising the fun with Shaun the Sheep™ and his barnyard buddies in this party-fest of wild wackiness from the Oscar®-winning creators of Wallace & Gromit™. The farm is once again party central as Shaun, Bitzer, Timmy, and those Naughty Pigs cause all sorts of mayhem, from flying cue balls and pillow fights to nights of disguise and intrigue. Grab your invitation to laughter for some sheepherding fun that's sure to rock the flock!

Secret of the Wings

Tinkerbell wanders into the forbidden Winter woods and meets Periwinkle. Together they learn the secret of their wings and try to unite the warm fairies and the winter fairies to help Pixie Hollow.

The Legend of the Sky Kingdom

Three children make a daring escape from the underground city in which they are slaves of the Evil Emperor, and go in search of the fabled Sky Kingdom and the great Prince Ariel.

ParaNorman

In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock can speak to the dead, but no one other than his eccentric new friend believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's eccentric uncle tells him of a ritual he must perform to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch centuries ago.

Jack and the Beanstalk

A delightful retelling of the classic fairytale by Hanna-Barbera, using live action and animation.

Lost & Found

A bumbling knitted dinosaur must completely unravel itself to save the love of its life.

Shaun the Sheep: One Giant Leap for Lambkind

Unidentified Farm Objects and paranormal sightings are the norm with Shaun the Sheep™ and his barnyard buddies Bitzer, Shirley, and Timmy, as they encounter more madcap mischief along with those Naughty Pigs next door. Big laughs are evident, as the creators of the Academy Award®-winning Wallace & Gromit™ are out to prove that sheepherding fun is universal.

George and A.J.

George and A.J. is a short film created by Pixar which uses characters from the film Up to tell what Nurses George and A.J. did after Carl Fredricksen left with his house tied to balloons in the feature film.

Mickey's Polo Team

Mickey Mouse and his friends face off against a team of celebrities in a polo match.

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia

Pepe Benengeli is a second-class cyclist, only there to support the star member of the team. This summer he is participating in the Tour of Spain, which passes through the streets of his hometown of Andalusia. In a coincidence, his brother and ex-girlfriend are getting married on the same day as the climax of the race. Pepe, who left his hometown after suffering a breakdown, is determined to achieve something special on this day.

Frankenweenie

When a car hits young Victor's pet dog Sparky, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked "monster" wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor's neighbors, he has to convince them that Sparky's still the good, loyal friend he was.

Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase

Legendary bicycle racer Marco Rondanini dies as team Pao Pao Beer is set to race in Japan. Team member Ciocci, close friend of Marco, starts to think about quitting. Under heavy rain, Ciocci and Pepe must put that aside as Team Pao Pao struggles to reach another victory. Pepe continues to ride his bicycle both in competition and training. He often spends time with his other team mates while they train in beautiful scenery in Japan. While in Japan a local girl helps out the team before and during the race.

Toys in the Attic

In an attic full of discarded junk, a pretty doll called Buttercup lives in an old trunk together with her friends, the marionette Prince Charming, lazy Teddy Bear and the plasticine creature Schubert. When Buttercup is snatched and taken off to the Land of Evil, her pals set out to rescue her.

Hearts and Flowers

Two male dolls compete to win the heart of female doll Dolly Daisy.

The Thrifty Pig

The Three Little Pigs sell Canadian war bonds.

The Winged Scourge

The Seven Dwarfs fight malaria.

Darkness, Light, Darkness

A human body gradually reconstructs itself as its various component parts crowd themselves into a small room and eventually, after much experimentation, sort out which part goes where.

Jackboots on Whitehall

A satirical alternative history of World War II where the Nazis seize London and England must band together to prevent a full on invasion.

Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil

Red Riding Hood is training in the group of Sister Hoods, when she and the Wolf are called to examine the sudden mysterious disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.

AAA - The Movie

On the night that Parka pried the championship from Abismo Negro's hands, the master of darkness' long lasting resentments resurge, thus threatening AAA's stability. With the help of Chesman, Charly Manson, and Cybernético, Abismo plots his revenge. Not even Octagón, AAA's spiritual leader, can stop the evil turn of events. When Kenzo Suzuki and Yonatan, Parka's younger brother, are kidnapped, it's quite clear the war has begun. Parka, helped by Gronda, Mascarita, Faby Apache, and Octagón, will fight to their very last breath to overcome the obstacles. The sudden appearance of a long lost evil, Triple A's ancestral enemy, rises the odds even more. An abandoned insane asylum, murderous cyborgs, gigantic dragonflies, ancient armies, and time travel are just the beginning of the adventure. The most spectacular lucha libre match ever is about to begin...

Winter Days

An animated film based on one of the renku (collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followed the traditional collaborative nature of the source material – the visuals for each of the 36 stanzas were independently created by 35 different animators. As well as many Japanese animators, Kawamoto assembled leading names in animation from across the world. Each animator was asked to contribute at least 30 seconds to illustrate their stanza, and most of the sequences are under a minute (Yuriy Norshteyn's, though, is nearly two minutes long).

The Flying Windmill

Olli, the main character in the movie, got a very bad grade and is terribly annoyed. She runs away from home and, together with a dog and a horse, finds a (mad? nutty?) scientist in a windmill. They experience the strangest adventures in this windmill and find other interesting characters, a lot of excitement and peril. While you may well interpret something as the "socialist value system" into this movie, it is more meant to be a children's movie, showing the kids that there are more exciting things out there than the ones that your parents and teachers show you, and that you will only find out most of those things on your own, if you show enough curiosity.

Crazy Hand Jive!

An animated short film about a cat trying to catch a mouse.

The Amazing Mr. Bickford

Several pieces of Frank Zappa's music are set against clay animation by Bruce Bickford.

Prometheus' Garden

Inspired by the Greek myth of Prometheus, a Titan who created the first mortals from clay and stole fire from the gods, Prometheus' Garden immerses viewers in a cinematic universe unlike any other. The dark and magical images of this haunting film unfold in a dreamlike stream of consciousness revealing an unlikely cast of characters engaged in a violent struggle for survival.

Ovary-Acting

A harried thirty-something woman is forced to decide whether she wants to be a mother after unexpectedly giving birth to her reproductive organs at her sister’s baby shower.

Orphans' Benefit

Mickey and friends put on a revue for the orphans. Donald recites nursery rhymes, but the orphans torment him. Horace, Goofy, and Clarabelle do a dance number. Donald tries again. Clara clucks a song while Mickey plays piano (with support from an unseen orchestra). Donald returns, and the orphans finally send a parade of bricks and eggs on balloons over him and use slingshots to drop them on his head.

Moomins and the Comet Chase

One day Moomintroll wakes to notice that grey dust is covering everything in the Moominvalley. He runs to ask the philosophical Muskrat if he knows what is happening, who advises him that things tend to look like this before an awful fate coming from the sky hits the Earth. With the help of his father, Moominpappa, Moomintroll and his close friends Sniff and Snufkin build a raft and head out on a challenging journey to the observatory in the Lonely Mountains hoping to find out more from the wise professors there. The friends have to overcome several adversities in order to make it there. When they arrive, they find the professors deep in calculations. They reveal that a comet will reach the Earth in four days, four hours, four minutes and 44 seconds.

The Pied Piper

The people of Hamelin, overrun with rats, offer a bag of gold to anyone who can get rid of the rats. A piper offers to do the job, and successfully lures the rats into a mirage of cheese, which disappears. The citizens, disappointed that all he did was play a tune, offer only pocket change. The piper, angered, plays a new tune that has all the children of the city follow him, even the new twins the stork is preparing to deliver.

Three Blind Mouseketeers

As the title implies, the three blind mice are musketeers. The cat sets a number of traps for them, which they all evade (apparently without realizing it) while he sleeps. The cat eventually wakes up and begins chasing them unsuccessfully, thanks to their teamwork.

The Mascot

A toy stuffed dog has just been sewn together when it hears a young child ask for an orange. The child's mother explains that they have no money, and so she cannot buy any oranges. The dog is then packed up along with a box full of other toys to be sold, but it soon winds up in the street. The dog picks up an orange from a curb side stand, and hopes to take it home to the child. But that night, before the dog can get back to the child's home, it must face a series of strange and frightening adventures.