History of Live Action Oscar Shorts
Complete guide to history of live action oscar shorts at the Academy Awards.
The live-action short film category at the Academy Awards has a rich history spanning over six decades, with the first award presented in 1957 to 'The Wetback Hound.' Since then, this category has consistently showcased some of the most innovative and emotionally resonant storytelling in the film industry, often overlooked in the larger world of cinema but always celebrated within the tight-knit community of filmmakers and Academy voters.
From the groundbreaking 'The Red Balloon' to the heart-wrenching 'The Neighbors' Room,' the live-action short films nominated for an Oscar have consistently pushed the boundaries of storytelling, often tackling complex themes and issues with nuance and sensitivity.
On this page, we'll delve into the history of live-action short films at the Academy Awards, highlighting some of the most memorable winners and nominees, and exploring the evolution of this unique and captivating category over the years.
2020s
Two People Exchanging Saliva 🏆 Winner
Tied for winner — only 7th tie in Oscar history
The Singers 🏆 Winner
Tied for winner — only 7th tie in Oscar history
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
The Last Ranger
I'm Not a Robot 🏆 Winner
Anuja
A Lien
▶ Watch on VimeoThe Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar 🏆 Winner
The After
Red, White and Blue
▶ Watch on YouTubeKnight of Fortune
▶ Watch on YouTubeInvincible
▶ Watch on TV5MONDE+The Red Suitcase
Night Ride
▶ Watch on YouTubeLe Pupille
Ivalu
An Irish Goodbye 🏆 Winner
The Long Goodbye 🏆 Winner
The Dress
Please Hold
On My Mind
▶ Watch on YouTubeAla Kachuu — Take and Run
Ala Kachuu - Take and Run
White Eye
Two Distant Strangers 🏆 Winner
The Present
The Letter Room
Feeling Through
▶ Watch on YouTubeThe Neighbors' Window 🏆 Winner
Saria
Nefta Football Club
▶ Watch on VimeoBrotherhood
▶ Watch on YouTubeA Sister
2010s
Skin 🏆 Winner
▶ Watch on Archive.orgMother
Marguerite
Fauve
▶ Watch on YouTubeDetainment
▶ Watch on TubiWatu Wote: All of Us
Watu Wote
The Silent Child 🏆 Winner
The Eleven O'Clock
My Nephew Emmett
DeKalb Elementary
▶ Watch on YouTubeTimecode
Sing 🏆 Winner
Silent Nights
La Femme et le TGV
Ennemis Intérieurs
Ennemis Interieurs
Stutterer 🏆 Winner
Shok
Everything Will Be Okay
Day One
Ave Maria
The Phone Call 🏆 Winner
Parvaneh
Butter Lamp
Boogaloo and Graham
Aya
The Voorman Problem
That Wasn't Me
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?
Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
Just Before Losing Everything
Helium 🏆 Winner
Avant Que de Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)
Henry
Death of a Shadow
Curfew 🏆 Winner
Buzkashi Boys
Asad
Tuba Atlantic
Time Freak
The Shore 🏆 Winner
▶ Watch on OfficialRaju
Pentecost
Wish 143
The Crush
The Confession
Na Wewe
God of Love 🏆 Winner
The New Tenants 🏆 Winner
The Door
Miracle Fish
Kavi
Instead of Abracadabra
2000s
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland) 🏆 Winner
New Boy
Manon on the Asphalt
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Auf der Strecke
The Tonto Woman
The Mozart of Pickpockets 🏆 Winner
Tanghi Argentini
Il Supplente
At Night
Éramos Pocos
West Bank Story 🏆 Winner
The Saviour
Helmer & Son
Eramos Pocos
Binta and the Great Idea
The Last Farm
Six Shooter 🏆 Winner
▶ Watch on YouTubeOur Time Is Up
Cashback
Ausreißer
Ausreisser
Wasp 🏆 Winner
The Sheep Thief
Little Terrorist
Everything in This Country Must
Die Dankbarkeit der Madame Zhiang
7:35 in the Morning
Two Soldiers 🏆 Winner
The Den
That's Life
Squash
Our Time Is Up
9:99
(A)torsion
This Charming Man 🏆 Winner
Split Cherry Tree
Slap Shot
Johnny Flynton
J'Attendrai le Suivant...
Inja (Dog)
I'll Wait for the Next One...
Footprints
Fait d'hiver
Fait d'Hiver
The Crazy Strangers
The Accountant 🏆 Winner
Meska Sprawa (A Man Thing)
Medon's
Johnny Flynton
Gregor's Greatest Invention
Copy Shop
Auf Wiedersehen
Uma Historia de Futebol (A Soccer Story)
The Man on Lincoln's Nose
The Dividend
Stille Nacht
Seraglio
Quiero Ser (I Want to Be...) 🏆 Winner
Quiero Ser
One Day Crossing
By Courier
The Confession
My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York 🏆 Winner
Major and Minor Miracles
Kleingeld (Small Change)
Kleingeld
Killing Joe
Bror, Min Bror (Teis and Nico)
Bror, Min Bror
1990s
Victor's Big Score
Victor
La Carte Postale (The Postcard)
La Carte Postale
La Carte Blanche
Il Principe Abusivo
Holiday Romance
Election Night 🏆 Winner
Culture
Wolfgang
Visas and Virtue 🏆 Winner
Sweethearts?
Sweethearts
It's Good to Talk
Dance Lexie Dance
All Souls Day
Wordless
Nuit de Gardien
Fishhead
Esposados (Cuffed)
Esposados
Esmerelda Comes by Night
Ernst & the Light
Ernst & Lansen
Dear Diary 🏆 Winner
De Tripas, Corazon
Tuesday Morning Ride
Syrup
Partners
Little Surprises
Lieberman in Love 🏆 Winner
Duke of Groove
Brooms
Binta and the Great Idea
Trevor
Syrup
On Hope
Kangaroo Court
Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life 🏆 Winner
Boca
The Screw (La Vis)
The Screw
The Dutch Master
Proposta Per Una Poltrona
Partners
George's Island
Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life
Down on the Waterfront
Black Rider 🏆 Winner
The Perfume Garden
The Lady in Waiting
Swan Song
Schweitzer, Albert
Omnibus 🏆 Winner
Love Sick
Cruise Control
Contacts
Contact
Swan Song
Session Man 🏆 Winner
Omission
Last Breeze of Summer
Chicken
Birch Street Gym
Ballet Robotique
The Nose
The Lunch Date 🏆 Winner
Siren Songs
Senzeni Na? (What Have We Done?)
Senzeni Na?
Dear Rosie
Bronx Cheers
12:01 PM
Work Experience 🏆 Winner
The Silver Goat
The Chiltern Hundreds
The Childeater
The Child Who Drinks from a Tin Cup
The Ballad of the Crystal Bridges
Siren Songs
Amazon Diary
1980s
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings 🏆 Winner
Misfire
Gusanos
Gullah Tales
Ceci n'est pas une pipe
Cadillac Dreams
Both Sides Now
The Wash
Shoeshine
Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall 🏆 Winner
Making Waves
Inside Out
Any Time to This
Tight Connection to My Heart
Red Cloud
Precious Images 🏆 Winner
Maritime Crusaders
Love Struck
Exit 10
Exit
Copycat
Rainbow War
Rag Tag
Molly's Pilgrim 🏆 Winner
Making Overtures
Grand Prix Racing: To Win
Graffiti
Alternatives
Éduard et Caroline
Up 🏆 Winner
The Singing Lesson
The Painted Door
Tales of Meeting and Parting
Kaos
Frankie's Blues
Overnight Sensation
Open Window
Nominee
Masculine-Feminine
Goodnight, Miss Ann
Goodie-Two-Shoes
Footsteps
Dogpound Shuffle
Boys and Girls 🏆 Winner
Your Joh
The Silence
The Departure
The Clown
Thalassa, Thalassa
Sredni Vashtar
Split Cherry Tree
Ballet Robotique
A Shocking Accident 🏆 Winner
Violet 🏆 Winner
Inocente
Goodbye, Miss 4th of July
First Winter
Couples and Robbers
The Lark Farm
The Dollar Bottom 🏆 Winner
The Absent-Minded Waiter
Sensations
In the Garden
Fall Line
A Jury of Her Peers
To Sleep So as to Dream
The Solar Film
Solly's Diner
Oh Brother, My Brother
Delta Phase
Bravery in the Field
Board and Care 🏆 Winner
A Jury of Her Peers
1970s
Tlayucan
Teenage Father 🏆 Winner
Strange Fruit
Reunions
Mandy's Grandmother
A Different Approach
The Absent-Minded Waiter
Spaceborne
Notes on the Popular Arts
I'll Find a Way 🏆 Winner
Floating Free
The Morning Spider
Number One
Nightlife
Kudzu
In the Region of Ice 🏆 Winner
White Mama
Sixteen Beauteous Loads
Four Stones for Kanemitsu
Doubletalk
Dawn Flight
Conquest of Light
Angel and Big Joe 🏆 Winner
▶ Watch on Archive.orgA Day in the Life of Bonnie Consolo
The Violin
The Concert
Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol
Planet Ocean
One-Eyed Men Are Kings 🏆 Winner
Climb
The Return
The Life, Death and Resurrection of a Short Subject
The Bolero 🏆 Winner
Painting with Sand
Life Times Nine
Closed Mondays
Clockmaker
Children at Work
Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid
Solo
Ojitos
Norman Rockwell's World... An American Dream 🏆 Winner
Nail, Mathieu, Nail
H2O
Frog Story
The Rehearsal
Storero
Solo
Sentinels of Silence 🏆 Winner
Norman Rockwell's World... An American Dream
Hawthorne
Good Morning
Title Shot
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy 🏆 Winner
The Rehearsal
Sticky My Fingers...Fleet My Feet
Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet
Smashing of the Reich
Shut Up...I'm Crying
Shut Up... I'm Crying
Good Morning
The People Tree
The Magic Machines 🏆 Winner
Sticky My Fingers... Fleet My Feet
Shut Up... I'm Crying
People Soup
Blake
1960s
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
Walking
▶ Watch on NFBThe Dove
Saturday Morning
Robert Kennedy Remembered 🏆 Winner
Prelude
People Soup
Duo
The Dove
Stop, Look and Listen
Sky Over Holland
Prelude
Passport No. G477222
Paddle to the Sea
▶ Watch on NFBDuo
A Place to Stand 🏆 Winner
Wild Wings 🏆 Winner
Turkey the Bridge
The Winning Strain
The Drag
Stop, Look and Listen
'Sky Over Holland'
Time Piece
The Chickens and I
The Chicken 🏆 Winner
Snow
Skaterdater
Fortress of Peace
To Be Alive!
The Thin Blue Line
The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes
Stopover in Bombay
Stained Glass at Fairford
Nudnik #2
Help! My Snowman's Burning Down
Casals Conducts: 1964 🏆 Winner
The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes
The Concert
That's Me
Six-Sided Triangle
Six Sided Triangle
Home-Made Car
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 🏆 Winner
Thirteen Paintings
The Trick
The Real Big Country
The Cliff Dwellers
The Cadillac
Solo
Pan
Home-Made Car
Heureux Anniversaire 🏆 Winner
Big City Blues
Very Nice, Very Nice
▶ Watch on NFBThe Face of Jesus
The Cadillac
Seawards the Great Ships 🏆 Winner
Rooftops of New York
Painting with Sand
Nelly's Folly
Imogene's Antler
Ballon vole
Ballon Vole (Play Ball!)
The Face of Jesus
The Creation of Woman
Rooftops of New York
Lost and Found
Islands of the Sea
Day of the Painter 🏆 Winner
Benito Cereno
A Sport Is Born
The Violinist
The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film
The Golden Fish 🏆 Winner
▶ Watch on Archive.orgSkyscraper
Ski Racer
Mysteries of the Deep
Men of the Corps
Between the Tides
Afrikaan
1950s
The Kiss
The Hour of Truth
T Is for Tumbleweed
Snows of Aorangi
Jury of One
Journey into Spring
Grand Canyon 🏆 Winner
Between the Tides
Ballabile
Universe
▶ Watch on NFBThe Wetback Hound 🏆 Winner
Soldiers of the Rocks
Portugal
Foothold on Antarctica
City of Gold
▶ Watch on NFBBoomerang
A Chairy Tale
▶ Watch on NFBTime Stood Still
The Jaywalker
The Bespoke Overcoat 🏆 Winner
On the Threshold of Space
Ideas on Film
Heureux Anniversaire
Cow Dog
A City Decides
A Chairy Tale
▶ Watch on NFBStay in the loop
Get weekly updates on the Oscar shorts race — festivals, lineups, and winners delivered to your inbox.
Subscribe →