2021 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED, LIVE ACTION, DOCUMENTARY SHORT (February)

It’s time for shorts! Waiting on the Oscar shortlists that would include the finalists in the Animated, Live Action and Documentary Short Subject was always the most prudent and realistic approach to predicting these categories and now we have ’em.

Animated shorts are often Disney and/or Pixar merely needing to fend off other contenders and this year is no different. Pixar’s Out will most likely do battle with Netflix’s Burrow but look out for Yes-People and If Anything Happens I Love You to make plays.

Name recognition can sometimes be a major player in the shorts and this year we have no less than three Oscar winners as subjects, directors and/or actors. Oscar winner Tilda Swinton starring in a film by Oscar winner Pedro Almodóvar (The Human Voice) and Oscar winner Sophia Loren (also a Best Actress contender this season) in What Would Sophia Loren Do? should easily be able to take up a slot in their categories.

Same goes for films produced by Oscar nominee Ava DuVernay and Emmy nominee Kris Bowers (A Concerto is a Conversation), NBA stars Kevin Durant and Mike Conley (Two Distant Strangers), starring Oscar Isaac (The Letter Room) and featuring voice work by Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Snail and the Whale).

Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions in Animated Short, Live Action Short and Documentary Short Subject for February.

Animated: 96 films qualified, of which 10 films advanced in this category for the 93rd Academy Awards. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

• 1. Burrow
• 2. Out
• 3. If Anything Happens I Love You
• 4. Genius Loci
• 5. Yes-People
• 6. Opera
• 7. Kapaemahu
• 8. To Gerard
• 9. The Snail and the Whale
• 10. Traces

Documentary Short Subject: 114 films qualified, of which 10 films advanced in this category for the 93rd Academy Awards. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

• 1. What Would Sophia Loren Do? (trailer)
• 2. Hunger Ward (trailer)
• 3. Colette
• 4. The Speed Cubers
• 5. A Concerto Is a Conversation (full film)
• 6. A Love Song for Latasha (trailer)
• 7. Do Not Split (full film)
• 8. Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa (trailer)
• 9. Hysterical Girl (full film)
• 10. Call Center Blues

Live Action: 174 films qualified, of which 10 films advanced in this category for the 93rd Academy Awards. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

• 1. The Human Voice (trailer)
• 2. The Letter Room
• 3. White Eye
• 4. Feeling Through
• 5. Two Distant Strangers (trailer)
• 6. Da Yie (trailer)
• 7. Bittu
• 8. The Kicksled Choir
• 9. The Present
• 10. The Van