“Percebes” enters the Oscar race for Best Animated Short Film, the same category for which the film “Ice Merchants” by João Gonzalez was nominated in 2023.
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, released last week its list of finalists in ten different categories. Among them is the animated film “Percebes”, directed by Portuguese directors Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires.
Awarded last June at the Annecy Film Festival, “Percebes” thus enters the Oscar race for Best Animated Short Film, the same category for which the film “Ice Merchants” by João Gonzalez was nominated in 2023.
Out of the Oscar nomination race is “Grand Tour” by Miguel Gomes, which the Portuguese Film Academy had put forward for the Best International Film category.
Competing for the Best International Film nomination is “I’m Still Here,” directed by Walter Salles, which has been put forward by Brazil and is set to premiere in Portuguese theatres on January 16.
“Percebes” (Goose barnacle) is a digitally animated watercolour documentary that explores the life cycle of this crustacean during its harvesting in the Algarve. The two directors also address questions about the locals’ relationship with the sea, tourism, and the disorder of the Portuguese coast.
Produced by the BAP Animation cooperative with a French co-production, the film won the Cristal Award for Best Short Film at the Annecy Festival in France. According to the Short Film Agency, it has over a dozen other distinctions and was selected for 91 festivals.
In Annecy, the two directors told the Lusa agency that the award won at that festival underlined “the strength of Portuguese animation cinema”, particularly in recent years.
“Creative freedom and authorial cinema is what gives our work this recognition”, believes Alexandra Ramires. And Laura Gonçalves added: “Our stories, that we make and want to do, have a reflection, and people appreciate that”.
According to the Oscars organisation, 88 animated short films from around the world were considered, of which 15- including “Percebes” – are now finalists.
Director Laura Gonçalves was part of the shortlist for the 2023 Oscars with the animated film “O Homem do Lixo”(The Dustbin Man) but did not make the nominations.
Of the shortlists released last Tuesday by the American Academy, the film “Emilia Pérez” by French director Jacques Audiard is mentioned six times, followed by “Wicked” by Jon M. Chu, with four mentions.
The 97th edition of the Oscars is scheduled for March 2, 2025, in Los Angeles, California, with the nominees revealed on January 17.
