From Shorts to Scores: The Insider’s Guide to Oscar’s Emerging Talents
With six luminous nominations—spanning makeup, sound, original score, and a double nod for original song—”Emilia Pérez” has positioned itself as this year’s sartorial storyteller. Not to be outdone, “Wicked” sashays in with four compelling nominations, proving that musical magic continues to bewitch the industry’s most discerning eyes.
The Academy’s shortlist reads like an insider’s playbook: animated shorts, documentaries, international features, and technical categories that are the unsung heroes of cinematic craft. As voting opens January 8th and closes January 12th, the anticipation is as electric as a front-row fashion week moment.
Mark your calendars for January 17th—the official nominations announcement—and February 2nd, when late-night provocateur Conan O’Brien takes the hosting helm, promising an evening of unexpected glamour and wit.
The academy unveiled shortlists in 10 categories; the final nominations will be released on Jan. 17. Here is a look at best song, score, documentary feature and international feature. For the complete list, go to Oscars.org.
Original Song
“Forbidden Road” from “Better Man”
“Winter Coat” from “Blitz”
“Compress/Repress” from “Challengers”
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Sick in the Head” from “Kneecap”
“Beyond” from “Moana 2”
“Tell Me It’s You” from “Mufasa: The Lion King”
“Piece by Piece” from “Piece by Piece”
“Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing”
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”
“Out of Oklahoma” from “Twisters”
“Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot”
Original Score
“Alien: Romulus”
“Babygirl”
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
“Blink Twice”
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Challengers”
“Conclave”
“Emilia Pérez”
“The Fire Inside”
“Gladiator II”
“Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1”
“Inside Out 2”
“Nosferatu”
“The Room Next Door”
“Sing Sing”
“The Six Triple Eight”
“Wicked”
“The Wild Robot”
“Young Woman and the Sea”
International Feature
Brazil, “I’m Still Here”
Canada, “Universal Language”
Czech Republic, “Waves”
Denmark, “The Girl With the Needle”
France, “Emilia Pérez”
Germany, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Iceland, “Touch”
Ireland, “Kneecap”
Italy, “Vermiglio”
Latvia, “Flow”
Norway, “Armand”
Palestine, “From Ground Zero”
Senegal, “Dahomey”
Thailand, “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies”
United Kingdom, “Santosh”
Documentary
“The Bibi Files”
“Black Box Diaries”
“Dahomey”
“Daughters”
“Eno”
“Frida”
“Hollywoodgate”
“No Other Land”
“Porcelain War”
“Queendom”
“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
“Sugarcane”
“Union”
“Will & Harper”
