Oscar Predictions: Best Animated Short

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Monday, January 13th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories.


Last year’s nominees: Animal Behaviour, Bao, Late Afternoon, One Small Step, Weekends

There are ten finalists in this category, and I had the opportunity to screen six of them. Therefore, I’ll be making my predictions with short summaries and reviews of the one I’ve seen and watching any that make the cut that I haven’t after nominations are announced.

Hair Love (B+)
This six-minute delight finds an African-American girl struggling to contain her hair and longing for more. It’s a sweet and simple film that is sure to over voters.

Hors Piste (A-)
Six minutes is all this hilarious mountain-set French film needs to chronicle the haplessness of two rescuers sent to help a stranded climber who make more than enough problems for themselves along the way.

Kitbull (B)
Maybe it’s become I’m not a pet person, but this nine-minute story of a cat and dog in San Francisco is perfectly fine but far from memorable, especially considering its Pixar ties.

The Physics of Sorrow (B-)
This twenty-seven-minute Canadian head trip is quite the experience, a deep, depressing dive into a life lost to outside influences. The hot wax painting used to create the animation is mesmerizing, even if the content is relatively miserable.

Sister (B)
This eight-minute Chinese stop-motion film explores the effects of a sibling in childhood, packing an emotional punch but taking a while to get there.

Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days (B+)
This thirteen-minute Portuguese film is an intriguing look at the effect director Regina Pessoa’s obsessive uncle had her on her life in fascinating fashion.

Also in contention are Daughter, from the Czech Republic, Mind My Mind, from the Netherlands, Memorable, from France, and He Can’t Live Without Cosmos, from Russia, which is a sequel to the 2015 short nominated in this category, “We Can’t Live Without Cosmos.” More on those after I’ve seen them if they make the cut!

Predicted nominees: Daughter, Hair Love, He Can’t Live Without Cosmos, Hors Piste, Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days

Forecasted winner: I’ll say Hors Piste but I’ll obviously have a better idea once I watch the films.