2026 Documentary Oscar Shorts

The annual audience favorite programs are back for another year at the Circle! The Documentary shorts open on Fri3/6, plus Animated shorts on Fri 2/20 and Live Action shorts on Fri 2/27. Tickets and showtimes coming soon.

Roadside Attractions will distribute the 98th Oscar® Nominated Shorts, presented by acclaimed filmmaker, writer, and actor Taika Waititi, exclusively in theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The program features three feature-length theatrical presentations, one for each Academy Award® Short Film category—Animated, Documentary, and Live Action—showcasing outstanding short films from around the world. Oscar® Nominated Shorts Program offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience these celebrated works on the big screen ahead of the Oscars®. Honoring short films as a distinct art form, Roadside Attractions will support the program as a must-see theatrical event, uniting film lovers and the global filmmaking community in a shared cinematic experience. The 98th Oscar® Nominated Shorts is presented by Roadside Attractions and is not a release presented by, sponsored by or endorsed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy has licensed Roadside Attractions the right to use the Oscar® trade name in connection with such release.

Documentary Shorts - total runtime 2h37min - Some films in this program contain graphic war imagery, adult themes and language. Recommended for persons 17 and up.

Perfectly A Strangeness - 15min, Canada

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.

The Devil is Busy - 31min, US

The film chronicles a day on the frontlines in the battle for reproductive rights at a women's healthcare clinic

Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud - 38min, US

An intimate chronicle about documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud, the first American journalist killed while reporting on the Russo-Ukrainian War.

All the Empty Rooms - 33min, US

In this moving short documentary, a journalist and a photographer set out to memorialize the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.

Children No More: "Were And Are Gone" - 36min, Israel

In Tel Aviv, activists gather weekly to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Gaza with a silent vigil for the children killed in Israeli attacks.