THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2025 - ANIMATION
Prague
This year's nominated animated shorts bring a diverse range of emotions, visual styles and deep themes. From absurdly comic hair transplant trips to the melancholy story of a captain plagued by the past, each of these films offers a unique perspective on the human condition. Magical candies that unlock unexpected conversations, abandoned characters from a children's show searching for a new meaning in life, or a child's view of the adult world and its strange habits - animation becomes not only a playful but also a deeply moving storytelling medium this year.
BEAUTIFUL MEN (Belgium, France, The Netherlands)
Director: Nicolas Keppens | Producers: Brecht Van Elslande, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Joost van den Bosch, Erik Verkerk |
Star: Peter Van den Begin, Peter De Graef, Tom Dewispelaere |
Year: 2023 | Length: 18 min | Animovaný film |
Three balding brothers travel to Istanbul to get a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS (Iran)
Directors: Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani | Producers: Francesco Di Silvio, Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani |
Star: Zahra Moosavi |
Year: 2023 | Length: 20 min | Animation |
Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life.
MAGIC CANDIES (Japan)
Director: Daisuke Nishio | Producers: Takashi Washio, Kazuhiro Nishikawa |
Star: Yoshifumi Hasegawa, Hiroshi Iwasaki, Haruto Shima |
Year: 2024 | Length: 21 min | Animation |
The other kids at the park never ask Dong-Dong to play. But he’s fine just playing marbles on his own. One day he goes out in search of new marbles, but ends up buying a bag of colorful, marble-shaped candies instead. But the first time he pops one of them into his mouth, he’s astonished to hear his old sofa start talking to him! For the next few minutes, until the candy melts away, he has the most unexpected and amazing conversation of his life. Realizing that these are no ordinary candies, Dong- Dong looks at the rest of colorful sweets. Who else will he be able to talk to, and what else will he learn, through these magic candies?
WANDER TO WONDER (The Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK)
Director: Nina Gantz | Producers: Stienette Bosklopper, Nina Gantz, Maarten Swart |
Star: Neil Salvage, Toby Jones, Amanda Lawrence |
Year: 2023 | Length: 13 min | Animation |
Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton are three tiny humans who star in a kids’TV Series called WANDER TO WONDER. After the crea- tor dies, they are left alone in the studio. Struggling to find enough to eat, they continue to make increasingly strange episodes for their fans.
YUCK! (France)
Director: Loïc Espuche | Producers: Juliette Marquet, Manon Messiant |
Star: Noé Chabbat, Katell Varvat, Enzo Desmedt |
Year: 2024 | Length: 13 min | Animation |
YUCK ! Adults kiss each other on the mouth, and children find it disgusting! What’s more, you can see it from afar: when people are about to kiss, their lips become all pink and shiny. Little Léo makes jokes about it, as do the other kids at the summer camp. But he has a secret he won’t tell his friends: his own mouth has actually begun glistening. And, in reality, Léo desperately wants to give kissing a try.
Total length of the screening 88 min. In original language with Czech and English subtitles.
