2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action
Midnight weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights, so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Various Run Time: 105 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2026 Language: in Various Languages w/ English Subtitles
Starring: Various
With all three categories offered – Animated, Live Action and Documentary – this is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts.
The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 15th.
2026 Nominated Films
Butcher’s Stain
dir. Meyer Levinson-Blount/Israel/17 mins./in Hebrew with English Subtitles
Samir, an Arab butcher, is falsely accused by his manager of removing hostage posters, forcing him to fight for his job and innocence amidst rising prejudice.
A Friend of Dorothy
dir. Lee Knight/UK/22 mins./in English
Dorothy is a lonely widow whose body is failing, but her mind remains as bright as ever. When 17-year-old JJ accidentally kicks his football into her garden, he upends Dorothy’s daily routine of pills, prunes, and crosswords, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Despite being worlds apart in every way, the two come to find they have more in common than they could ever imagine.
Jane Austin’s Period Drama
dir. Julia Aks, Steve Pinder/USA/13 mins./in English
England, 1813. In the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal, Miss Estrogenia Talbot gets her period. Her suitor, Mr. Dickley, mistakes the blood for an injury, and it soon becomes clear that his expensive education has missed a spot.
The Singers
dir. Sam Davis/USA/17 mins./in English
A genre-bending short film inspired by a 19th-century short story written by Ivan Turgenev, in which a lowly pub full of downtrodden men connect unexpectedly through an impromptu sing-off.
Two People Exchanging Saliva
dir. Alexandre Singh, Natalie Musteata/France/36 mins./in French with English Subtitles
In a society where kissing is punishable by death, and people pay for things by receiving slaps to the face, Angine, an unhappy woman, shops compulsively in a department store. There, she becomes fascinated by a playful salesgirl. Despite the prohibition of kissing, the two become close, raising the suspicions of a jealous colleague.