Academy Announces Shortlisted Films in 10 Oscar Categories

by Jacob Jones

​On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) unveiled their shortlists for ten below-the-line categories at the 97th Oscars, revealing which films voters had selected as finalists for a nomination in each. Shortlists are a hallowed tradition for the Academy’s voting body and for awards prognosticators, who use these lists as a means of more accurately predicting what will be competing for those coveted gold statues come January. Wicked and Emilia Pérez were the big winners of the day, taking up 4 and 6 shortlist spots each in a strong bid for both movie musicals from Universal Pictures and Netflix. Though there were no major surprises in most categories, a few inclusions (and exclusions) stood out amongst the rest. Notably, Hans Zimmer’s score for Dune: Part Two was deemed ineligible for competition by AMPAS’ music branch – who determined that it contained too much previously published music to be considered original to the film – but the score for Wicked, which adapts Act One of the iconic Broadway musical for the silver screen, does make an appearance in the Original Score shortlist (which includes 20 shortlisted competitors, the most in any category), leaving awards pundits scratching their heads about how it remains eligible, given that much of the music seems to find its origins in the stage version. Other surprises included Alien: Romulus showing up not only in Visual Effects, but also in Sound and Original Score (two categories it was not expected to be competitive in), as well as the film Waltzing with Brando sneaking into the Makeup & Hairstyling lineup for its transformation of Billy Zane into the titular movie icon. Even the corpse of the ill-fated Joker: Folie à Deux managed to eek out a single nod in Best Sound.
 
On the losing side, the unfortunately underseen Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – George Miller’s follow-up prequel to six-time Oscar winner Mad Max: Fury Road – went entirely ignored, missing key chances to remind Oscar voters and viewers of its potential as an awards contender in the craft categories. Less similarly, though still notably, Alex Garland’s Civil War landed a shortlist spot in Best Visual Effects, but not Best Sound, where most awards pundits had predicted it could appear given that the sound editing in the film is frequently lauded as its greatest accomplishment. The Golden Globe-nominated Miley Cyrus song “Beautiful That Way,” which appears in The Last Showgirl, missed the cut for its designated category as well, in a swift reversal to its new awards season momentum, leaving at least one more chance for Kneecap’s “Sick in the Head” to make a surprise appearance. All in all, however, despite the shortlists’ miscarriages of justice towards George Miller and company, they remain full of strong contenders, any number of whom would be worthy of a nomination come announcement morning.
 
A full list of the 2025 Oscar Shortlists appears below.

Best Documentary Feature:

• 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

 
Best Documentary Short:

• 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

 
Best International Feature:

• Armand (Norway)
• Dahomey (Senegal)
• Emilia Pérez (France)
• Flow (Latvia)
• From Ground Zero (Palestine)
• The Girl with the Needle (Denmark)
• How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Thailand)
• I’m Still Here (Brazil)
• Kneecap (Ireland)
• Santosh (United Kingdom)
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)
• Touch (Iceland)
• Universal Language (Canada)
• Vermiglio (Italy)
• Waves (Czech Republic)

 
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

• The Apprentice
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• A Different Man
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Maria
• Nosferatu
• The Substance
• Waltzing with Brando
• Wicked

 
Best 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

 
Best Original Song:

• “Beyond,” Moana 2
• “Compress/Repress,” Challengers
• “El Mal,” Emilia Pérez
• “Forbidden Road,” Better Man
• “Harper and Will Go West,” Will & Harper
• “The Journey,” The Six Triple Eight
• “Kiss The Sky,” The Wild Robot
• “Like a Bird,” Sing Sing
• “Mi Camino,” Emilia Pérez
• “Never Too Late,” Elton John: Never Too Late
• “Out of Oklahoma,” Twisters
• “Piece by Piece,” Piece by Piece
• “Sick in the Head,” Kneecap
• “Tell Me It’s You,” Mufasa: The Lion King
• “Winter Coat,” Blitz

 
Best Animated Short:

• 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!

 
Best Live-Action Short:

• 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

 
Best Sound:

• Alien: Romulus
• Blitz
• A Complete Unknown
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Gladiator II
• Joker: Folie à Deux
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

 
Best 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

What do you think of these shortlists? Are there any films you’re surprised made an appearance? Any you’re shocked or disappointed are missing? Let us know in the comments section below, and thanks for reading!
 
- The Friendly Film Fan

*"Forbidden Road," from Better Man, has been disqualified from Oscar competition. Its inclusion here is reflective of its appearance in the original iteration of these shortlists.