A curated nine: an Iranian father-daughter elegy told in hand-painted animation, a CAPTCHA test that spirals into an identity crisis, an ICE arrest that derails a green card interview, and a photographer turning her own chronic illness into a raw documentary; these are the shorts that walked away with this year's Oscars and BAFTAs, plus one gloriously unhinged Sundance oddity about homemade Gatorade. Nine films, nine very different ways of saying something in under thirty minutes, here's where to watch each one.
In the Shadow of the Cypress
An Iranian animated short exploring grief and connection through a father-daughter relationship. Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Short in 2025. Its hand-painted visual style and restrained emotional pacing earned comparisons to some of the best in contemporary art-house animation.
Origami
A quietly moving Japanese animated short from director Kei Kanamori. It earned a spot on the 2025 Oscar shortlist for Best Animated Short. The film uses paper-folding as a visual metaphor for memory and impermanence, unfolding gently rather than pushing toward a big dramatic payoff.
Instruments of a Beating Heart
First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge for the final semester: performing Ode to Joy at the ceremony for the new incoming first graders. Ayame, who often struggles to keep up with the group, is determined to play a major part: the big drum. Shortlisted for the Oscars last year, the film is tender and is a patient observation of childhood effort. Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki lets the camera simply watch kids struggle, practice, and grow, without narration steering the emotion.
I'm Not a Robot
A woman is repeatedly failed by a CAPTCHA test, triggering an identity crisis with darkly comic consequences. The film won the 2025 Oscar for Best Live Action Short. Dutch director Victoria Warmerdam turns a mundane internet annoyance into a sharp, unsettling meditation on what makes us human.
A Lien
An immigrant family's green card interview spirals into a nightmare when an unexpected ICE arrest threatens to separate them. A tense, urgent Oscar-shortlisted drama. Real-time pacing and a handheld, almost documentary style make the fear feel very immediate.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Streaming on Netflix
An intimate portrait of Orin O'Brien, the first woman to become a permanent member of the New York Philharmonic. It won the 2025 Oscar for Best Documentary Short. Directed by her niece, Molly O'Brien, the film balances trailblazing history with a humble reluctance to claim the spotlight.
This Is Endometriosis
Photographer Georgie Wileman turns her own chronic illness into a raw, deeply personal documentary. It won Best British Short Film at the 2026 BAFTAs. Built from years of self-portraits and archive footage, it confronts medical gaslighting and the decade-long average wait for diagnosis.
Two Black Boys in Paradise
Streaming on Apple
A stop-motion animation based on Dean Atta's poem, following two young men on a journey of love and self-acceptance. It won the Best British Short Animation at the 2026 BAFTAs. Narrated by Jordan Stephens, its tender visual language turns a coming-out story into something closer to a celebration than a struggle.
Homemade Gatorade
A woman's absurd, unsettling road trip to deliver a mysterious online buyer his homemade sports drink. A dark, hilarious slice of internet-brain-rot animation from Sundance 2026's Midnight program. Self-taught animator Carter Amelia Davis built the whole thing with DIY mixed-media techniques, and it's quickly become a cult favourite.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 4.9.2026