2025 Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentaries

15 Films Selected in Each Category for Documentary Feature and Documentary Short

ABOVE IS THE PLAYLIST OF 15 TRAILERS.
ALL TRAILERS WILL PLAY ONE AFTER THE OTHER OR CLICK THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER TO SEE THE FULL PLAYLIST.

2025 Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentary:
Watch the 15 Trailers for Best Documentary Features

Date: December 29, 2024

As we celebrate the holiday season and welcome the new year, it’s the perfect time to dive into some of the year’s best documentaries - the 2025 Oscar Documentary Shortlist. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced the shortlists for the 97th Academy Awards in both the Documentary Feature Film and Documentary Short Film categories.

In the Documentary Feature Category, 15 films were selected from a total of 169 eligible films.

Interestingly, aside from a Will Ferrell documentary, celebrity-driven films didn’t dominate the voting this year.

97th Academy Awards: Documentary Shortlists

Documentary Feature Film Shortlist (15 films):

• The Bibi Files
• Black Box Diaries
• Dahomey
• Daughters
• Eno
• Frida
• Hollywoodgate
• No Other Land
• Porcelain War
• Queendom
• The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
• Soundtrack to a Coup d’État
• Sugarcane
• Union
• Will & Harper

Documentary Short Film (15 shortlist): 

• Chasing Roo
• Death by Numbers
• Eternal Father
• I Am Ready, Warden
• Incident
• Instruments of a Beating Heart
• Keeper
• Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World
• Once Upon a Time in Ukraine
• The Only Girl in the Orchestra
• Planetwalker
• The Quilters
• Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr
• A Swim Lesson
• Until He’s Back

The final nominations will be announced on Friday, January 17, 2025, with the 97th Oscars airing on Sunday, March 2, 2025, live from the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood.

Oscar Nominations

2024 Oscar Nominations for Best Documentary

2023 Oscar Nominations for Best Documentary

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