The Documentary Branch is perhaps one of the most unpredictable branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but there were few shocking snubs after the Documentary Feature Film shortlist was revealed this morning. One film that was always making the list was Julia Loktev’s “My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air In Moscow,” which has already won a ton of awards, including Best Documentary Feature from the Gotham Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the New York Film Critics Circle, among other critics’ groups. And, the Sundance and Netflix sensation, “The Perfect Neighbor.”
READ MORE: “One Battle After Another” Wins Best Feature At The 2025 Gotham Awards [Complete List]
Other notable mentions among the 15 shortlisted films include “The Alabama Solution,” “Come See Me In The Good Light,” “Cover-Up,” and “2000 Meters to Andriivka.”
Additionally, The Academy released the 45 contenders that make up the Live Action, Animated, and Documentary Short Film shortlists which you can find further in the post.
Members of the Documentary branch vote on the final nominees for the Documentary Feature Film Oscar.
The Documentary Feature Film shortlist is as follows:
“The Alabama Solution”
“Apocalypse in the Tropics”
“Coexistence, My Ass!”
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Cover-Up”
“Cutting through Rocks”
“Folktales”
“Holding Liat”
“Mr. Nobody against Putin”
“Mistress Dispeller”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow”
“The Perfect Neighbor”
“Seeds”
“2000 Meters to Andriivka”
“Yanuni”
For all short film categories, all members of The Academy are eligible to vote, but they must watch all of the nominees.
The Documentary Short Film shortlist is as follows:
“All the Empty Rooms”
“All the Walls Came Down”
“Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
“Bad Hostage”
“Cashing Out”
“Chasing Time”
“Children No More: “Were and Are Gone””
“Classroom 4”
“The Devil Is Busy”
“Heartbeat”
“Last Days on Lake Trinity”
“On Healing Land, Birds Perch”
“Perfectly a Strangeness”
“Rovina’s Choice”
“We Were the Scenery”
The Live Action Short Film shortlist is as follows:
“Ado”
“Amarela”
“Beyond Silence”
“The Boy with White Skin”
“Butcher’s Stain”
“Butterfly on a Wheel”
“Dad’s Not Home”
“Extremist”
“A Friend of Dorothy”
“Jane Austen’s Period Drama”
“Pantyhose”
“The Pearl Comb”
“Rock, Paper, Scissors”
“The Singers”
“Two People Exchanging Saliva”
The Animated Short Film shortlist is as follows:
“Autokar”
“Butterfly”
“Cardboard”
“Éiru”
“Forevergreen”
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
“Hurikán”
“I Died in Irpin”
“The Night Boots”
“Playing God”
“The Quinta’s Ghost”
“Retirement Plan”
“The Shyness of Trees”
“Snow Bear”
“The Three Sisters”
The 2026 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22.
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