2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Documentary

O Cinema is once again thrilled to host the 2026 Oscar Nominated Short Films program, a nationally touring celebration of the year’s finest short films. Featuring the Animated, Documentary, and Live Action nominees from this year’s Academy Awards, this special showcase offers an extraordinary chance to experience a diverse collection of global cinematic excellence.

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Perfectly A Strangeness (dir. Alison McAlpine, Canada, 15min)

In the dazzling incandescence of an unknown desert, three donkeys discover an abandoned astronomical observatory and the universe. A sensorial, cinematic exploration of what a story can be.

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The Devil Is Busy (dirs. Christalyn Hampton & Geeta Gandbhir, USA, 31min)

The Devil is Busy takes viewers on a daylong journey with Tracii, the determined head of security at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, Georgia as she works to ensure the safety of women seeking abortions in the face of new restrictions and persistent protests.

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Armed Only With A Camera: The Life And Death Of Brent Renaud (dirs. Craig Renaud and Brent Renau, USA, 38min)

On March 13, 2022, filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed by Russian soldiers – the first American journalist to die while reporting on the war in Ukraine. His younger brother and collaborator, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and his final recordings from Ukraine and brought them back to their childhood home in Arkansas. As Brent’s journey to his final resting place unfolds, the film chronicles the years he and his brother spent covering some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts.

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All The Empty Rooms (dir. Joshua Seftel, USA, 33min)

All the Empty Rooms follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Hartman steps away from his heartwarming human interest stories and unbeknownst to his network’s bosses, pursues a piece on absence, memory, and the unseen ripples of America's gun violence epidemic. As these senseless incidents claim more young lives than any other cause in America, these quiet bedrooms reveal truths more powerful than statistics ever could.

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Children No More: “Were And Are Gone” (dir. Hilla Medalia, Israel, 36min)

Children No More: “Were and are Gone” is an observational documentary short about a vigil that began in March 2025, when a handful of women stood silently in a public square in Tel Aviv, each holding a photograph of a child killed in Gaza. On every image: the child’s name, age, date of death, and the words “WAS AND IS NO MORE. ” Their stillness is heavy, pressing against the rhythm of ordinary life. Some passersby look away; others respond with denial, sorrow, or rage. Yet week after week, new names are added, new photographs are printed and lifted high. And each week, more people step forward to join this quiet act of protest.

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