Academy Announces 259 Eligible Titles for Animated, Documentary and International Feature Races

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the list of eligible films for the animated, documentary and international feature categories for this year’s 95th Oscars. Among the films in the running are Amazon’s documentary “Good Night Oppy,” Netflix’s German remake “All Quiet on the Western Front” and Apple’s animated collaboration with Skydance, “Luck.”

Both major and independent studios are well represented across the board. A24 is going forth with confidence after its NYFCC win for animated gem “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” which qualified for consideration. Documentaries are littered with harrowing stories from Neon (“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”), Sony Pictures Classics (“Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb”) and IFC Films (“Bad Axe”).

More from Variety

The international feature category has the strongest slate of contenders in years, including Belgium’s “Close,” Denmark’s “Holy Spider,” France’s “Saint Omer,” Poland’s “EO” and Austria’s “Corsage.”

Read on for a full breakdown of the three categories.

Animated Feature

For the animated feature race, there are 27 films vying for the attention of Academy voters. Some of the films have not yet had their qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement, along with other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.

The five nominees are determined by the 867 short films and feature animation branch members and any Academy members outside the branch who opt to participate. The number of members who opt in is unknown. All films submitted for animated feature also qualify for the Academy Awards in other categories, including best picture.

There weren’t any surprise omissions, but a few films that were being tracked including Shout Studios’ “Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” and Viva Pictures’ “The Amazing Maurice” were not listed.

“Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood” (Netflix)
“The Bad Guys” (Universal Pictures)
“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” (20th Century Studios)
“Charlotte” (Good Deed Entertainment)
“DC League of Super-Pets” (Warner Bros.)
“Drifting Home” (GKids)
“Eternal Spring” (Lofty Sky Distribution)
“Goodbye, Don Glees!” (GKIDS)
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)
“Inu-Oh” (GKids)
“Lamya’s Poem” (Phoenicia Pictures)
“Lightyear” (Pixar)
“Little Nicholas, Happy as Can Be” (Buffalo 8)
“Luck” (Apple Original Films/Skydance)
“Mad God” (IFC Midnight/Shudder)
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (A24)
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” (Universal Pictures)
“My Father’s Dragon” (Netflix)
“New Gods: Yang Jian” (GKids)
“Oink” (Synergetic Distribution)
“Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” (Paramount Pictures)
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (DreamWorks Animation)
“Run, Tiger Run!” (Soular Animation)
“The Sea Beast” (Netflix)
“Strange World” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“Turning Red” (Pixar)
“Wendell & Wild” (Netflix)

International Feature

There are 92 countries in the running for the category that highlights global cinema. The only film that was missing from the list was Malta’s “Carmen” by director Valerie Buhagiar. Its omission likely means it failed to meet its required seven-day theatrical run by Nov. 30.

Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate in the preliminary round of voting. The number of Academy members that choose to vote in the category is unknown, but sources who work on awards campaigns tell Variety it’s around 1,100 members this year. Members who opt-in must meet a minimum viewing requirement, which consists of eight or nine films depending on their group, to be eligible to vote. However, the member can view and vote for any of the 92 films that are submitted. The shortlist of 15 films that will advance to the nomination voting stage will be announced on Dec. 21.

Albania, “A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On”
Algeria, “Our Brothers”
Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”
Armenia, “Aurora’s Sunrise”
Australia, “You Won’t Be Alone”
Austria, “Corsage”
Azerbaijan, “Creators”
Bangladesh, “Hawa”
Belgium, “Close”
Bolivia, “Utama”
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “A Ballad”
Brazil, “Mars One”
Bulgaria, “In the Heart of the Machine”
Cambodia, “Return to Seoul”
Cameroon, “The Planters Plantation”
Canada, “Eternal Spring”
Chile, “Blanquita”
China, “Nice View”
Colombia, “The Kings of the World”
Costa Rica, “Domingo and the Mist”
Croatia, “Safe Place”
Czech Republic, “Il Boemo”
Denmark, “Holy Spider”
Dominican Republic, “Bantú Mama”
Ecuador, “Lo Invisible”
Estonia, “Kalev”
Finland, “Girl Picture”
France, “Saint Omer”
Georgia, “A Long Break”
Germany, “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Greece, “Magnetic Fields”
Guatemala, “The Silence of the Mole”
Hong Kong, “Where the Wind Blows”
Hungary, “Blockade”
Iceland, “Beautiful Beings”
India, “Last Film Show”
Indonesia, “Missing Home”
Iran, “World War III”
Iraq, “The Exam”
Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”
Israel, “Cinema Sabaya”
Italy, “Nostalgia”
Japan, “Plan 75”
Jordan, “Farha”
Kazakhstan, “Life”
Kenya, “TeraStorm”
Kosovo, “Looking for Venera”
Kyrgyzstan, “Home for Sale”
Latvia, “January”
Lebanon, “Memory Box”
Lithuania, “Pilgrims”
Luxembourg, “Icarus”
Mexico, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
Moldova, “Carbon”
Mongolia, “Harvest Moon”
Montenegro, “The Elegy of Laurel”
Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”
Nepal, “Butterfly on a Windowpane”
Netherlands, “Narcosis”
New Zealand, “Muru”
North Macedonia, “The Happiest Man in the World”
Norway, “War Sailor”
Pakistan, “Joyland”
Palestine, “Mediterranean Fever”
Panama, “Birthday Boy”
Paraguay, “Eami”
Peru, “Moon Heart”
Philippines, “On the Job: The Missing 8”
Poland, “EO”
Portugal, “Alma Viva”
Romania, “Imaculat”
Saudi Arabia, “Raven Song”
Senegal, “Xalé”
Serbia, “Darkling”
Singapore, “Ajoomma”
Slovakia, “Victim”
Slovenia, “Orchestra”
South Korea, “Decision to Leave”
Spain, “Alcarràs”
Sweden, “Cairo Conspiracy”
Switzerland, “A Piece of Sky”
Taiwan, “Goddamned Asura”
Tanzania, “Tug of War”
Thailand, “One for the Road”
Tunisia, “Under the Fig Trees”
Turkey, “Kerr”
Uganda, “Tembele”
Ukraine, “Klondike”
United Kingdom, “Winners”
Uruguay, “The Employer and the Employee”
Venezuela, “The Box”
Vietnam, “578: Magnum”

Documentary Feature

A whopping 144 docs are eligible for consideration, with many yet to fulfill their required qualifying release. Documentaries that have won a qualifying film festival award or have been submitted in the international feature category as its country’s official selection are also eligible for this category.

Films submitted in the documentary feature category may also qualify for other general categories including best picture, although no documentary has been nominated (yet).

The 651 members of the documentary branch will vote to determine the shortlist of nominees. Fifteen films will be announced on Dec. 21, along with the shortlists for makeup and hairstyling, sound, visual effects, original score, original song, international feature, animated short film, documentary short subject and live action short.

Upon first glance, there were no glaring omissions, although some expected to see Walt Disney Pictures’ “Mickey: The Story of a Mouse” from Jeff Malmberg and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years That Made His Legend” from R.J. Cutler to appear. “Icarus: The Aftermath,” the sequel to the Oscar-winning “Icarus” by Bryan Fogel, has yet to pick up U.S. distribution despite solid reviews.

“2nd Chance”
“752 Is Not a Number”
“A House Made of Splinters”
“A Star Without a Star”
“Aftershock”
“All That Breathes”
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“America Boxed In”
“Anonymous Club”
“Art & Krimes by Krimes”
“At Home Walking”
“Bad Axe”
“Battleground”
“Beba”
“Bitterbrush”
“Black Ice”
“Black Notebooks – Ronit”
“Blue Island”
“Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power”
“Breaking Bread”
“Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche”
“Calendar Girls”
“Cat Daddies”
“Children of the Mist”
“Civil”
“Claydream”
“Cow”
“Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story”
“Descendant”
“Disturbed Earth”
“Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel”
“Eami”
“Eternal Spring”
“Exposure”
“Fanny: The Right to Rock”
“Father”
“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen”
“Fire of Love”
“Four Winters”
“Framing Agnes”
“Free Chol Soo Lee”
“Free Puppies!”
“Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom”
“From the Hood to the Holler”
“Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down”
“Gamestop: Rise of the Players”
“Girl, Taken”
“Good Night Oppy”
“Gratitude Revealed”
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song”
“Hello, Bookstore”
“Hidden Letters”
“Hold Your Fire”
“How to Survive a Pandemic”
“I Am Here”
“I Didn’t See You There”
“I’m Wanita”
“In Her Hands”
“Invisible Demons”
“Is That Black Enough for You?”
“Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story”
“Katrina Babies”
“Keep Stepping”
“Killing Me Softly With His Songs”
“Las Hostilidades”
“Last Flight Home”
“Leave No Trace”
“Let Me Be Me”
“Let the Little Light Shine”
“Life & Life”
“Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege”
“Look at Me: XXXtentacion”
“Loudmouth”
“Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues”
“Loving Highsmith”
“Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power”
“Master of Light”
“Midwives”
“Mija”
“Moonage Daydream”
“Motherland”
“Mr. Landsbergis”
“My Old School”
“Myanmar Diaries”
“Navalny”
“Nelly & Nadine”
“Nothing Compares”
“Nothing Lasts Forever”
“Oleg”
“Only in Theaters”
“Our American Family”
“Out of Breath”
“Project Iceman”
“Punch 9 for Harold Washington”
“Retrograde”
“Riotsville, U.S.A.”
“Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams”
“Sansón and Me”
“Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me”
“Send Me”
“Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic”
“Sidney”
“Sirens”
“Souls in Transit”
“Sr.”
“Stutz”
“Surviving Sex Trafficking”
“Tantura”
“The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales”
“The Automat”
“The Balcony Movie”
“The Bengali
“The Book Keepers”
“The Camera of Doctor Morris”
“The Cathedral”
“The Corridors of Powers”
“The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie”
“The Eclipse”
“The Exiles”
“The Human Trial”
“The Janes”
“The Last of the Winthrops”
“The New Abolitionists”
“The Princess”
“The Quiet Epidemic”
“The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile”
“The Silence of the Mole”
“The Story Won’t Die”
“The Territory”
“The Unredacted (Jihad Rehab)”
“The Voice of Dust and Ash”
“The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari”
“The Will to See”
“The Wind Blows the Border”
“Three Minutes — A Lengthening”
“Tiger 24”
“To the End”
“Trenches”
“Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb”
“Users”
“We Are Art Through the Eyes of Annalaura”
“What We Leave Behind”
“Wildcat”
“Young Plato”
“¡Viva Maestro!”

See the latest awards predictions, in all 23 Academy Award categories, in one place on Variety’s Oscars Collective. To see the ranked predictions for each individual category, visit Variety’s Oscars Hub.

Best of Variety

Click here to read the full article.