2026 Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentaries

15 Films Selected for Documentary Feature and for Documentary Short

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(Note: 'Seeds' trailer isn’t available, so the director's intro is included instead)

Date: December 29, 2025

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 2026 Oscar Documentary Shortlist. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced the shortlists for the 98th 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 201 eligible films.

98th Academy Awards: Documentary Shortlists

Documentary Feature Film Shortlist (15 films):

• The Alabama Solution
• Apocalypse in the Tropics
• Coexistence, My Ass!
• Come See Me in the Good Light
• Cover-Up
• Cutting through Rocks
• Folktales
• Holding Liat
• Mr. Nobody against Putin
• Mistress Dispeller
• My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow
• The Perfect Neighbor
• Seeds
• 2000 Meters to Andriivka
• Yanuni

Documentary Short Film (15 shortlist): 

• All the Empty Rooms
• All the Walls Came Down
• Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
• Bad Hostage
• Cashing Out
• Chasing Time
• Children No More: “Were and Are Gone”
• Classroom 4
• The Devil Is Busy
• Heartbeat
• Last Days on Lake Trinity
• On Healing Land, Birds Perch
• Perfectly a Strangeness
• Rovina’s Choice
• We Were the Scenery

The final nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026, with the 98th Oscars airing on Sunday, March 15, 2026, live from the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood.

Oscar Nominations

2025 Oscar Nominations for Best Documentary

2024 Oscar Nominations for Best Documentary

2023 Oscar Nominations for Best Documentary

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