Academy unveils 10 shortlists for 2025 Oscars: ‘Emilia Perez’ leads the field

Besides the French, German and Brazilian candidates, the list includes Mati Diops Dahomey for Senegal, Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap for Ireland, Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio for Italy, Sandhya Suri’s Santosh for Great Britain and Matthew Rankins Universal Language for Canada.

Europe accounts for 10 or two-thirds of the shortlist, Africa and the Middle East two, and the Americas two, while Thailand is the only Asian representative.

Documentary contenders include No other country co-directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, Shiori Itō’s Black Box Diariesand Emily Kassie’s Cane.

Emilia Perez, as Netflix has for the US and UK, making the shortlists six times in total including categories such as make-up and hair styling, score and song. Universal’s Evil is displayed four timess, while Warner Bros/Legendary’s Dune: Part Two, 20th Century Studios’ Alien Romulus, and Paramounts Gladiator II appear three times each, including in the visual effects list.

Universal/DreamWorks Animations The wild robot also secured three slots.

The nominations will be announced on January 17, 2025, and the 97th Academy Awards will take place on March 2, 2025.

The shortlists are shown below:

DOCUMENTARY HIRE FILM

Fifteen films advance in the documentary category for the 97th Academy Awards. One hundred and sixty-nine films were eligible in the category. Members of the Documentary Department vote to determine the shortlist and nominees.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

The Bibi files
Black Box Diaries
Dahomey
Daughters
Eno
Frida
Hollywoodgate
No other country
Porcelain war
Queendom
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
The soundtrack to a coup d’état
Cane
Union
Will and Harper

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Fifteen films advance in the documentary short category for the 97th Academy Awards. One hundred and four films qualified in the category. Members of the Documentary Department vote to determine the shortlist and nominees.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

Chasing Roo
Death by numbers
Eternal Father
I’m 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
Place 31: Zooey Zephyr
A swimming lesson
Until he’s back

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Fifteen films advance to the next round of voting in the international feature category for the 97th Academy Awards. Films from 85 countries and regions were eligible in the category. Academy members from all disciplines were invited to participate in the initial round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. In the nomination round, Academy members from all disciplines are invited to register to participate and must watch all 15 shortlisted films in order to vote.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Brazil, I’m still here
Canada, universal language
Czech Republic, waves
Denmark, The Girl with the Needle
France, Emilia Perez
Germany, the seed of the holy fig
Iceland, Touch
Ireland, the kneecap
Italy, Vermiglio
Latvia, Flow
Norway, Armand
Palestine, From Ground Zero
Senegal, Dahomey
Thailand, how to make millions before grandma dies
United Kingdom, Santosh

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLE

Ten films advance in the makeup and hairstyling category for the 97th Academy Awards. All members of the Academy’s makeup artist and hair division will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on January 11, 2025. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

The apprentice
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
A different man
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Maria
Nosferatu
The substance
Waltz with Brando
Evil

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Twenty scores advance in the original score category to the 97th Academy Awards. One hundred and forty-five scores qualified in the category. Members of the Music Department vote to determine the shortlist and nominees.

The scores, listed in alphabetical order by film title, are:

Alien: Romulus
Baby girl
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Blink twice
Flash
The Brutalist
Challengers
Conclave
Emilia Perez
The fire within
Gladiator II
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1
From the inside out 2
Nosferatu
The room next door
Sing Sing
The six triple eight
Evil
The wild robot
Young woman and the sea

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

Fifteen songs advance in the original song category to the 97th Academy Awards. 89 songs were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Department vote to determine the shortlist and nominees.

The original songs, along with the film in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:

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

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Fifteen films advance in the animated short category for the 97th Academy Awards. 88 films qualified in the category. Academy members from the animation division and the short film branch were invited to participate in the initial round of voting and must have met a minimum screening requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. In the nomination round, Academy members from the animation department and the short film branch are invited to register to participate and must watch all 15 shortlisted films in order to vote.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

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
Perceive
The 21st
Wander to wonder
The wildly tempered piano
Yuck!

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Fifteen films advance in the live action short film category for the 97th Academy Awards. 180 films qualified in the category. Academy members from all disciplines were invited to participate in the initial round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. In the nomination round, Academy members from all disciplines are invited to register to participate and must watch all 15 shortlisted films in order to vote.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

Anuja
Clodagh
The countryman
Crust
Pigeon strike
Edge Of Space
The Iceman
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

HEALTHY

Ten films advance in the sound category for the 97th Academy Awards. All eligible members of the sound department vote to determine the shortlist and nominees. Academy members will be invited to view excerpts from each of the shortlisted films beginning January 9, 2025 in the San Francisco Bay Area, followed by London, Los Angeles and New York on January 11, 2025. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

Alien: Romulus
Flash
A complete unknown
Deadpool and Wolverine
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Gladiator II
Joker: Folie à Deux
Evil
The wild robot

VISUAL EFFECTS

Ten films remain in play in the visual effects category for the 97th Academy Awards. The visual effects executive committee determined the shortlist. All Visual Effects Branch members will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on January 11, 2025. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:

Alien: Romulus
Better man
Civil war
Deadpool and Wolverine
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
Planet of the Apes Kingdom
Mufasa: The Lion King
Twisters
Evil.