Alfred Nakache, a swimmer of Algerian Jewish descent who competed for France in the Olympics both before and after he was sent to Auschwitz, might seem an unlikely subject for an animated film. But “Butterfly” is one of the five animated shorts nominated for Oscars this year – and in my view, should be a shoo-in for the award, although a couple of the others are also terrific. You can judge for yourself. All five, ranging from seven to 17 minutes and in a wide variety of animated styles, are being shown together in movie theaters nationwide starting on Friday, as part of a 2026 Oscar Nominated Short Films program that also includes presentations of the short live action and documentary nominees. Below is my short take on each of the animated shorts, listed alphabetically, along with the trailers or complete videos at least temporarily posted on YouTube.
Butterfly (Papillon)
The film combines both a compelling true story inspired by Olympic swimmer Alfred Nakache and the extraordinary, gorgeous animation by Florence Miailhe, Aurore Peuffier and Chloé Sorin that looks to be influenced by the French Impressionists and especially by Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin. It begins with an old man taking a swim and carry us back to his childhood when he was mocked by the other children for being afraid of the water through the many waves (literally) of his remarkable life.
Writer and Director Florence Miailhe. France. 15 minutes.
Forevergreen
n orphaned bear cub is nurtured by a fatherly tree, but betrays it, when the cub is wooed by a random bag of potato chips to explore a human campsite, where it becomes the inverse of Smokey the Bear, recklessly (if inadvertently) setting off a forest fire. This is strictly for kids, both because of the cartoon-like quality of the animation and the simplistic, mixed messages: Love nature, but don’t worry; even if you destroy it, it will renew itself
Written and directed by Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears. United States. 13 minutes.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
A stop-motion film using puppets offers a haunting sculptural quality to a deeply satisfying tale that feels straight out of Dickens, both in its detailed, nearly grotesque look at 19th century poverty, and its clever ironic twist at the end. An elderly man recounts to his granddaughter how in his impoverished boyhood in Montreal, he fell in love with a girl whose sorrow turns into pearls, which he sold to a pawnbroker, whose greed knows no ends, and does him in.
Written and directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, cowritten with Isabelle Mandalian. Canada. 17 minutes
Retirement Plan
In the short film, a character (Domhnall Gleeson) catalogues all the many things he will do in retirement. The film feels (and looks) like a sophisticated adult comic strip that manages to be very funny, stinging in its blunt acknowledgement of our universal self-deception and procrastination, and ultimately poignant
Written and directed by John Kelly, co-written with Tara Lawall. Ireland. 7 minutes
The Three Sisters
Simple, pqper cutout-like animation with sight gags of a retrograde, dialogue-free story about three sisters who live on an isolated island who lose their savings and are forced to take in a boarder. His presence causes each of them to bloom, and to battle one another for his attention.
Writer and director Konstantin Bronzit, Israel and Cyprus. 14 minutes.
