Portuguese animated movie in shortlist for the Oscars

The animated movie "Percebes" competes for Best Animated Short Film, the same category in which João Gonzalez's Ice Merchants was nominated in 2023.

What?

The animated film Percebes by Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires is among the finalists for a nomination at the 2025 Oscars, while Cannes Film Festival-awarded Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes did not make the cut, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed this week.

The Academy released the list of finalists in the selection process for nominees in ten different categories, including Animation, International Film, Feature and Short Documentary, Song and Original Score, Sound, and Visual Effects. This is a pre-selection for the awards.

Details

Awarded in June at the Annecy Film Festival, Percebes now competes for Best Animated Short Film, the same category in which João Gonzalez's Ice Merchants was nominated in 2023.

Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes had been submitted by the Portuguese Academy of Cinema in the Best International Film category.

Competing for a nomination in this category are, among others, Ainda Estou Aqui by Walter Salles (Brazil), Emilia Perez by Jacques Audiard (France), The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof (proposed by Germany, as a co-producer of the film, since the Iranian filmmaker fled his country to avoid a prison sentence), Dahomey by Mati Diop, which is also a pre-candidate in the Documentary category (now showing in Portuguese theaters), and Vermiglio by Maura Delpero (Italy).

Percebes is a watercolor and digital animated documentary about the life cycle of this crustacean in the context of harvesting in the Algarve, with the two directors also addressing issues related to the local population’s relationship with the sea, tourism, and the overdevelopment of the Portuguese coast.

Produced by the BAP Animation cooperative with French co-production, the film won the Cristal Award for Best Short Film at the Annecy Festival in France and, according to the Short Film Agency, has earned over a dozen other awards and 91 selections at festivals.

Director Laura Gonçalves was previously a finalist for the 2023 Oscars with the animated film O Homem do Lixo, but did not make it to the nominations.

The 97th edition of the Oscars is scheduled for March 2, 2025, in Los Angeles, California, with the nominees being revealed on January 17.