The time has come. Awards season is swiftly coming to a close, culminating with the 98th Annual Academy Awards on March 15, 2026. The best part, at least for me, of every Oscars watch party is the predictions sheet. The key to winning almost always comes down to the shorts, and GVN is here to help you make those picks! This year, Roadside Attractions is putting each collection of nominated shorts in theaters leading up to the ceremony, so be sure to find a theater showing them near you.

Maximum participation in watching as many of the nominated films is always highly encouraged, but we’ve got you covered on all of this year’s nominees so you can be engaged with these awards and make an educated decision in your predictions for the show.

Animation

Leading off with the shortest runtime of the three categories, the animated shorts contained my personal favorite of the 15 nominated shorts this year, Forevergreen, a film about a bear cub who befriends a tree as they grow up together. The blend of CGI stop motion animation style and animated wood-carved creatures gives the film a unique feel. Next, we have The Three Sisters, which follows three sisters living on an island whose lives are upended after they are forced to rent out one of their homes to a pipe-smoking sailor. The film features no dialogue and a minimalistic animation style. It’s a cute story, but not one that I’d expect the Academy to vote for among these five.

Domhnall Gleeson lends his voice to Retirement Plan as he narrates all the things he wishes to do once he retires. This was by far the most humorous of the animated shorts and is very sweet, but not the most powerful narrative or theme. The race for this award is likely to come down to Butterfly, about a man swimming in the ocean remembering things from his past that relate to water, and The Girl Who Cried Pearls, which follows a grandfather recounting tales from his youth to his granddaughter. The two films have some similar themes but very different animation styles. Butterfly almost looks like a picture book, with beautifully painted images and a moving narrative about the past and how to move past the terrible things that are done to us. The Girl Who Cried Pearls combines stop motion and CGI expertly to bring a sense of realism to the puppet-like characters in the film. 

Prediction: While I think Butterfly is the strongest of the five thematically, The Girl Who Cried Pearls is more unique in style and has a strong story as well. It’s a tough call, but my gut is telling me to go with Butterfly. It’s both timely and well-crafted.

Documentary

We had a great batch of documentary shorts this year, kicking off with Perfectly a Strangeness. This film captures donkeys as they discover an abandoned observatory, and contains shots using some of the observatory’s equipment. Next up is The Devil is Busy, following Tracii, the head of security at a Georgia women’s health clinic. We only see footage from one day of Tracii’s life, but are quickly shown the reality and risk that she and everyone working there put themselves through to provide care for their patients. From changing laws to religious protesters, there’s never a quiet moment at this clinic. Another harrowing film is Armed With Only a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud. This short is more of a classical documentary style with talking heads and archival footage documenting Renaud’s life and impact before his death while working as press in the warzone of Ukraine. 

There are two main contenders for Best Documentary Short, the first of which is All the Empty Rooms. Renowned journalist Steve Hartman has been working on a secret project over the years, taking pictures and memorializing the rooms of children who lost their lives in school shootings, and All the Empty Rooms follows him as he visits the last three families on his list. Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” also has a strong chance here. This one introduces us to organizers in Israel who hold silent vigils and protests displaying images of children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Prediction: In a purely American voting body, I would predict All the Empty Rooms to take this award solely due to its more immediate geographical significance, but the Academy gets more and more international with each passing year. Due to this, I am going pick Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” due to its broader international appeal and heartwrenching subject matter. 

Live Action

The Singers led off this year’s collection of Live Action Short Films. Following a group of men at a dive bar competing in an impromptu sing-off for $100 and free drinks, the film explores themes of camaraderie and the value of sporadic vulnerability, even with strangers. Next, we have A Friend of Dorothy, which recounts the formation of an unlikely friendship between 87-year-old Dorothy (Miriam Margolyes) and 17-year-old JJ (Alistair Nwachukwu), a young man who shares her passion for acting and plays. It’s a sweet story with a really good performance from Margolyes, but not quite good enough to win here. 

Butcher’s Stain is a really strong short about the persecution and prejudice that Arab Israeli’s face. It follows Samir, a butcher who is accused of tearing down hostage posters in the supermarket break room, and his efforts to keep his job. It plays a little heavy-handed and makes its point early on. Two People Exchanging Saliva is certainly the most unique of the Live Action Shorts this year, and it’s by far the longest. It follows a department store worker in a dystopian world where kissing is frowned upon, and payment comes in the form of slaps to the face, who catches the eye of a rich housewife. Its longer runtime allows it tell more of a full story, and its characters are developed just enough to make it stand out among the rest. The final short in this category is Jane Austen’s Period Drama. Set in the time of Jane Austen’s novels, what begins as a simple romance turns into a hilarious comedy of miscommunication and misunderstandings revolving around a female character’s period. This one will make you laugh out loud.

Prediction: The other races seem tight, but this one is pretty clear to me. Two People Exchanging Saliva is far and away the most accomplished and complete short of the bunch, and it would be a travesty if it didn’t go home with the award. 

Be sure to check out your local showtimes for the Oscar Nominated Short Films, now playing in select theaters, so that you can make the most educated predictions for your Oscar pools and tune into the ceremony on March 15th!