Animation & Docs - The Film Experience

95th Oscars. Predictions for the Films of 2024/ CEREMONY: March 2, 2025
For prediction, discussion, entertainment purposes only discuss on the blog

OSCAR CEREMONY IN REVIEW

AND THE WINNERS ARE "FLOW" AND "NO OTHER LAND"

and the nominees were...
(scroll down for shorts categories)

OSCAR FINAL VOTING: February 11-18, 2025
OSCAR NIGHT: Sunday March 2, 2025

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Stats reflect animation categories only

FLOW Gints Zilbadolis, Matiss Kaza, Ron Dyens, Gregory Zalcman first nominations and wins for all! Janus Films / Sideshow Qualifying Also Nominated in Best International Film previous wins: EFA	INSIDE OUT 2 Mark Nielsen (2nd nom \| 1 win), Kelsey Mann first nomination! Disney/Pixar June previous wins:	MEMOIR OF A SNAIL Adam Elliot (2nd nom \| 1 win), Liz Kearney first nomination! IFC Films October previous wins:	WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL Nick Park (7th nomination \| 4 wins), Merlin Crossingham & Richard Peek first nomination for each! Aardman / Netflix December previous wins:	WILD ROBOT Chris Sanders (4th nom) Jeff Hermann first nomination! Universal/ Dreamworks September Also nominated in Best Original Score and Best Sound previous wins:
READER'S POLL (VOTE DAILY)
. Much to the delight of your host here FLOW was also the reader favourite in this category. and then it won the Oscar!
WHAT WILL WIN?
Given its nomination tally (3 which is strong for Animated Features) we expect that The Wild Robot will win this with ease. It's a good movie, too, which makes the lock not too disappointing. If there's an upset, it will obviously be Flow which people have happily caught on to. PREDICTION: WILD ROBOT ALTERNATE: FLOW
WHAT SHOULD WIN? NATHANIEL'S PICK
My heart -- my very soul -- is with *Flow*. Sorry to the others, whatever their charms.

WHAT WAS LEFT OUT?
Most pundits predicted these five so it probably wasn't close. That said Disney's Moana 2 made a last minute surge helped by big box office. Earlier in the year War of the Rohirrim and Piece by Piece seemed like high profile possibilities but they didn't catch fire with audiences or the industry. Well respected international options like Chicken for Linda, Living Large, Kensuke's Kingdom, and Sultana's Dream ran into the typical problem for international titles: voters usually only notice one title en masse from the dozens on view and this year that was Flow. The rest of the eligibility list: Art College 1994, Captain Avispa, The Colors Within, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Despicable Me 4, The Garfield Movie, Ghost Cat Anzu, The Glassworker (also submitted for International Feature), The Imaginary, Kung Fu Panda 4, Look Back, Mars Express, Rocket Club: Across the Cosmos, Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds, Spellbound, That Christmas, Thelma the Unicorn, Transformers One, and Ultraman: Rising
TRIVIA & ANECDOTES

BEST ANIMATED SHORT Stats reflect animation categories only

BEAUTIFUL MEN Nicolas Keppens & Brecht Van Elslande first nominations for both!	IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS Shirin Sohani & Hossein Molayemi	MAGIC CANDIES Daisuke Nishio & Takashi Washio	WANDER TO WONDER Nina Gantz & Stienette Bosklopper	YUCK Loïc Espuche & Juliette Marquet
READER'S POLL (VOTE DAILY)
. TFE Readers longed for a BEAUTIFUL MEN win but it was the second place finisher IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS that took the Oscar.
WHAT WILL WIN?
The shorts categories never feel like they have strong frontrunners -- perhaps because they're far less politicized and discussed. So while anything could win we suspect it goes like so... PREDICTION: Wander to Wonder ALTERNATE: Beautiful Men
WHAT SHOULD WIN? NATHANIEL'S PICK
My favourite is easily the delicious and clever *Magic Candies* which feels like childhood with its imaginative leaps and its bittersweet limitations
WHAT WAS LEFT OUT?
Of the finalists I was quite fond of *Bottle George, The Wild Tempered Cavalier,* *A Crab in the Pool, and Maybe Elephants*

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Stats reflect this category only... * means they've also been recognized elsewhere

BLACK BOX DIARIES Eric Nyari (first two nominations this year), Shiori Itô, Hanna Aqvilin first nominations for both!	NO OTHER LAND Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham first nominations for all!	PORCELAIN WAR Brendan Bellomo, Aniel Sidorska, Slava Leontyev, and Paula DuPré Pesmen first nominations for all!	SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT Rémi Greliety (2nd nomination), Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius first nominations for each!	SUGARCANE NOMINEES TBD
READER'S POLL (VOTE DAILY)
. Before OScar night results were in TFE readers also indicated a very strong preference for NO OTHER LAND.
WHAT WILL WIN?
Consensus appears to believe this is a battle between *No Other Land* and *Porcelain War* with some devotees of Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat hanging around the edges holding out hope. PREDICTION: No Other Land ALTERNATE: Porcelain War
WHAT WAS LEFT OUT?
*Super Man The Christopher Reeve* story was the highest profile snub and among the finalists, many were fond of *Will & Harper.*

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT Stats reflect this category only... * means they've also been recognized elsewhere

DEATH BY NUMBERS Kim A Snyder, Janique L Robillard	I AM READY, WARDEN Smriti Mundhra (2nd nomination), Maya Gnyp first nomination!	INCIDENT Bill Morrison & Jamie Kalven	INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART Eric Nyari (two nominations this year) & Ema Ryan Yamazaki	ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA Molly O'Brien & Lisa Remington first nominations for both!
READER'S POLL
. While votes were fairly evenly split among three films, the Oscar winner Only Girl in the Orchestra also came out on top here.
WHAT WILL WIN?
PREDICTION: Only Girl in the ORchestra ALTERNATE: I Am Ready, Warden

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT Stats reflect this category only... * means they've also been recognized elsewhere

A LIEN Sam Culter-Kreutz & David Cutler-Kreutz first nominations for both!	ANUJA Adam J Graves & Suchitra Mattai	I'M NOT A ROBOT Trent & Victoria Warmerdam	THE LAST RANGER Cindy Lee & Darwin Shaw	THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT Nebosa Slijepcevic & Danijel Pek
READER'S POLL (VOTE DAILY)
. TFE readers preferred The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent but the future Oscar winner I'm Not a Robot was their second favourite.

WHAT WILL WIN?
PREDICTION: The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent ALTERNATE: A Lien
WHAT SHOULD WIN? NATHANIEL'S PICK
I haven't seen them all so I shouldnt say but *The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent* was so potent and timely.