Two Canadian shorts and the Canadian co-directors of animated films KPop Demon Hunters and Elio are among those nominated for the 98th Academy Awards.
National Film Board (NFB) short The Girl Who Cried Pearls is nominated for Best Animated Short. It’s the first nomination in 18 years for Montreal-based animation duo Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, who previously received a nod in 2007 for Madame Tutli-Putli in the same category.
“Congratulations to Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski and the talented creative team who brought The Girl Who Cried Pearls to vivid life. Created in and set in Montreal, the film is their latest stop-motion marvel—part of a remarkable collaboration with the National Film Board that now spans two decades. We’re proud to be the creative home for visionary animators like Chris and Maciek, and to continue to champion Canadian storytelling that resonates with audiences here at home and around the globe,” said Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson, in an announcement.
The 17-minute stop-motion animation film, set in Montreal at the dawn of the 20th century, was produced by Julie Roy, Marc Bertrand and Christine Noël, and features the voice of actor Colm Feore and music from Patrick Watson, while Brigitte Henry served as artistic director. Olivier Calvert, who was on Sylvain Bellemare’s team for Denis Villeneuve film Arrival (winner of the 2017 Oscar for Sound Editing) provided sound design.
Since its debut in June 2025 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it was featured as an opening film and in official competition, The Girl Who Cried Pearls has screened at more than 40 festivals and received over 11 awards and honours, including the Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film at TIFF.
Nominated for Best Documentary Short is perfectly a strangeness from Montreal-based filmmaker Alison McAlpine. The cinematic exploration, which follows three donkeys through an unknown desert, has screened at over 70 film festivals, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024 where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or-Best Short Film and went on to win numerous awards.
Other Canadians up for awards include Toronto’s Maggie Kang, who wrote and co-directed KPop Demon Hunters, which is nominated for Best Animated Feature, alongside a nod for Best Original Song for “Golden.”
Co-writer and co-director Domee Shi is also positioned to take home a second Academy Award for animated sci-fi adventure film, Elio, which is also competing in the Best Animated Feature category. She previously won Best Animated Short for Bao in 2019 and was nominated for Turning Red in 2023.
Both Kang and Shi are Sheridan College grads, with more than four dozen former students earning credits on this year’s Oscar-nominated films, according to the college.
“We are beyond thrilled that not one, but two of our grads have been recognized with such a prestigious distinction as an Oscars nomination. It’s a true testament to their hard work and creative abilities,” said Mark Jones, Dean of the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design (FAAD). “Sheridan grads continue to set the standard in the creative industries, which is something our current students take note of and are inspired. We will all be watching and cheering for Maggie and Domee on Oscars night.”
Some of the Canadian crew behind Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which is up for Best Picture (and counts Canadian J. Miles Dale among its producers), are nominated for Makeup and Hairstyling (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey), along with Tamara Deverell and set decorator Shane Vieau for Production Design.
Find the full list of nominees here.
The 98th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 15 and televised in Canada on CTV and CTV2, and available for live streaming on CTV.ca and the CTV app.
