Oscar Shorts 2025: Documentary

Regular $15/ $11 Matinee
Member $11/ $6 Matinee

Genre

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Release Year

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Runtime

165 min

Accessibility

Limited Mobility Access

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For the 20th consecutive year, ShortsTV and Magnolia Pictures present the Oscar-Nominated Short Films, opening on Feb. 14th. With all three categories offered – Animated, Live Action and Documentary – this is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts. The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 2nd.


DEATH BY NUMBERS
Director: Kim A. Snyder
33 min, USA
DEATH BY NUMBERS turns an intimate lens on school shooting survivor Sam Fuentes’s journey to reclaim her power, processing trauma through journaling. To prepare for a confrontation with her assailant in his harrowing sentencing trial, she examines complex questions of collective hatred and justice.

 


I AM READY WARDEN
Director: Smriti Mundhra

37 min, USA
The latest documentary short film, from MTV Documentary Films, I AM READY, WARDEN, by acclaimed filmmaker Smriti Mundhra (INDIAN MATCHMAKING, ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN) tells the harrowing and emotionally charged story of John Henry Ramirez, a man convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Texas. Through his time on death row, the film offers a rare and intimate glimpse into his attempts to seek redemption and reconciliation. To gain access to the Texas prison system, Mundhra collaborated with journalist Keri Blakinger, whose New York Times Magazine article THE DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS PLAYERS OF DEATH ROW was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

 


INCIDENT
Director: Bill Morrison

30 min, USA
Through a montage of surveillance and police body-camera footage, a reconstruction of a deadly shooting by a Chicago police officer becomes an investigation into how a narrative begins to take shape in the aftermath.

 


INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART
Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki
23 min, Japan
A New York Times Op-Doc. First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge for the final semester: to form an orchestra and perform “Ode to Joy” at a school ceremony.

 


THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA
Director: Molly O’Brien
35 min, USA
Trailblazing double bassist Orin O’Brien was never one to seek the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philharmonic, she inevitably became the focus of media attention and, ultimately, one of the most renowned musicians of a generation.

 

 

Featured Films in this Series:

coming soon

Twinless

June 28

James Sweeney wrote, directed, and stars in TWINLESS, a delightful comedy that follows two friends who meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely, fragile bond that will go on to redefine their relationship to the past.

coming soon

East of Wall

June 28

After the death of her husband, Tabatha — a young, tattooed, rebellious horse trainer — wrestles with financial insecurity and unresolved grief while providing refuge for a group of wayward teenagers on her broken-down ranch in the Badlands.

coming soon

Videoheaven

June 28

Narrated by Maya Hawke, VIDEOHEAVEN creates a monumental cinematic history of the beloved video store of a now bygone era.

coming soon

Stranger Eyes

June 29

After the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realizes someone has been filming their daily life.

coming soon

Speak.

June 27

A celebration of the power of storytelling, SPEAK. is an electrifying portrait of teen storytellers preparing to compete in the prestigious NSDA Championships, the “Super Bowl of public speaking”.

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