The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled the official shortlists in 12 categories for the 98th Academy Awards, marking a major milestone on the road to Oscar nominations.
The announcement, made from Los Angeles, includes shortlists for Animated Short Film, Casting, Cinematography, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Live Action Short Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Sound, and Visual Effects.
Across the categories, hundreds of eligible films were narrowed down through preliminary voting by members of the relevant Academy branches, with strict viewing requirements in place to ensure voters engaged with the work before weighing in. In the next phase, Academy members across all branches will be invited to opt in and vote on the shortlists, provided they view every film in each category.
Several films emerged as strong contenders across multiple categories. Titles such as Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle after Another, Sinners, Sirât, and Wicked: For Good appear repeatedly on the shortlists, landing in categories including Casting, Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music, Sound, and Visual Effects.
Big-budget and franchise-driven projects including Avatar: Fire and Ash, Tron: Ares, F1, and Superman also made a significant showing, particularly in the technical categories.
The shortlists reflect a wide range of creative disciplines. The Animated Short Film category features 15 titles selected from more than 100 qualifying entries. At the same time, both Documentary Feature Film and Documentary Short Film narrowed their fields to 15 finalists each, spotlighting urgent global stories and deeply personal narratives. International Feature Film reduced submissions from 86 countries or regions down to 15 films, underscoring the increasingly global reach of the Academy Awards.
In the music categories, Original Score advanced 20 compositions, while Original Song shortlisted 15 tracks spanning prestige dramas, documentaries, and franchise releases. The Sound and Visual Effects shortlists balance large-scale spectacle with more grounded storytelling, reflecting the Academy’s continued emphasis on craft as an essential component of narrative impact.
Nominations voting opens January 12, 2026, and closes January 16, 2026, with official Oscar nominations announced on January 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be broadcast live on ABC in more than 200 territories worldwide.
With the categories now locked and the shortlists revealed, awards season officially shifts into its most competitive phase, as contenders begin the final push toward Oscar nominations.
Best Animated Short Film
Fifteen films will advance in the Animated Short Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “Autokar”
- “Butterfly”
- “Cardboard”
- “Éiru”
- “Forevergreen”
- “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
- “Hurikán”
- “I Died in Irpin”
- “The Night Boots”
- “Playing God”
- “The Quinta’s Ghost”
- “Retirement Plan”
- “The Shyness of Trees”
- “Snow Bear”
- “The Three Sisters”
CASTING
Ten films will advance in the Casting category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “Frankenstein”
- “Hamnet”
- “Marty Supreme”
- “One Battle after Another”
- “The Secret Agent”
- “Sentimental Value”
- “Sinners”
- “Sirât”
- “Weapons”
- “Wicked: For Good”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sixteen films will advance in the Cinematography category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “Ballad of a Small Player”
- “Bugonia”
- “Die My Love”
- “F1”
- “Frankenstein”
- “Hamnet”
- “Marty Supreme”
- “Nouvelle Vague”
- “One Battle after Another”
- “Sentimental Value”
- “Sinners”
- “Sirât”
- “Song Sung Blue”
- “Sound of Falling”
- “Train Dreams”
- “Wicked: For Good”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “The Alabama Solution”
- “Apocalypse in the Tropics”
- “Coexistence, My Ass!”
- “Come See Me in the Good Light”
- “Cover-Up”
- “Cutting through Rocks”
- “Folktales”
- “Holding Liat”
- “Mr. Nobody against Putin”
- “Mistress Dispeller”
- “My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow”
- “The Perfect Neighbor”
- “Seeds”
- “2000 Meters to Andriivka”
- “Yanuni”
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Short Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “All the Empty Rooms”
- “All the Walls Came Down”
- “Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
- “Bad Hostage”
- “Cashing Out”
- “Chasing Time”
- “Children No More: “Were and Are Gone””
- “Classroom 4”
- “The Devil Is Busy”
- “Heartbeat”
- “Last Days on Lake Trinity”
- “On Healing Land, Birds Perch”
- “Perfectly a Strangeness”
- “Rovina’s Choice”
- “We Were the Scenery”
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
- Argentina, “Belén”
- Brazil, “The Secret Agent”
- France, “It Was Just an Accident”
- Germany, “Sound of Falling”
- India, “Homebound”
- Iraq, “The President’s Cake”
- Japan, “Kokuho”
- Jordan, “All That’s Left of You”
- Norway, “Sentimental Value”
- Palestine, “Palestine 36”
- South Korea, “No Other Choice”
- Spain, “Sirât”
- Switzerland, “Late Shift”
- Taiwan, “Left-Handed Girl”
- Tunisia, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the Live Action Short Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “Ado”
- “Amarela”
- “Beyond Silence”
- “The Boy with White Skin”
- “Butcher’s Stain”
- “Butterfly on a Wheel”
- “Dad’s Not Home”
- “Extremist”
- “A Friend of Dorothy”
- “Jane Austen’s Period Drama”
- “Pantyhose”
- “The Pearl Comb”
- “Rock, Paper, Scissors”
- “The Singers”
- “Two People Exchanging Saliva”
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Ten films will advance in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “The Alto Knights”
- “Frankenstein”
- “Kokuho”
- “Marty Supreme”
- “Nuremberg”
- “One Battle after Another”
- “Sinners”
- “The Smashing Machine”
- “The Ugly Stepsister”
- “Wicked: For Good”
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Twenty scores will advance in the Original Score category for the 98th Academy Awards. The scores, listed in alphabetical order by film title, are:
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
- “Bugonia”
- “Captain America: Brave New World”
- “Diane Warren: Relentless”
- “F1”
- “Frankenstein”
- “Hamnet”
- “Hedda”
- “A House of Dynamite”
- “Jay Kelly”
- “Marty Supreme”
- “Nuremberg”
- “One Battle after Another”
- “Sinners”
- “Sirât”
- “Train Dreams”
- “Tron: Ares”
- “Truth and Treason”
- “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”
- “Wicked: For Good”
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Fifteen songs will advance in the Original Song category for the 98th Academy Awards. The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
- “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” from “Tron: Ares”
- “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless”
- “Dream As One” from “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
- “Drive” from “F1”
- “Dying To Live” from “Billy Idol Should Be Dead”
- “The Girl In The Bubble” from “Wicked: For Good”
- “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters”
- “Highest 2 Lowest” from “Highest 2 Lowest”
- “I Lied To You” from “Sinners”
- “Last Time (I Seen The Sun)” from “Sinners”
- “No Place Like Home” from “Wicked: For Good”
- “Our Love” from “The Ballad of Wallis Island”
- “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from “Come See Me in the Good Light”
- “Sweet Dreams Of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!”
- “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams”
SOUND
Ten films will advance in the Sound category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
- “F1”
- “Frankenstein”
- “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”
- “One Battle after Another”
- “Sinners”
- “Sirât”
- “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere”
- “Superman”
- “Wicked: For Good”
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ten films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 98th Academy Awards. The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
- “The Electric State”
- “F1”
- “Frankenstein”
- “Jurassic World Rebirth”
- “The Lost Bus”
- “Sinners”
- “Superman”
- “Tron: Ares”
- “Wicked: For Good”
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