10 Animations go forward towards 2018 Academy Awards

In a list that heavily favours animations from North America, 10 animated shorts have been announced as heading forward to possibly competing for an Academy Award in 2018.

Flying the flag for Europe are two animations from France and one originating from the UK.

Garden Party (Dirs. Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon & Lucas Navarro, France) originates from MOPA, the French school dedicated to CG Animation and 3D. The film follows is a darkly comedic amphibious crime thriller that has screened at the likes of Encounters in the UK and Clermont-Ferrand, where it receievd a special mention from the Jury in the festival's National Competition.

Negative Space (Dirs. Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, France, pictured above) already comes with a myriad of festival screenings and plaudits, playing more than 40 festivals (including Annecy, Encounters, Edinburgh and Interfilm Berlin) in the latter half of 2017 alone. The film tells the bittersweet story of a relationship between a father and his son, Sam. Always leaving on business trips, the father connects with Sam by teaching him how to pack a suitcase efficiently.

From the UK comes Revolting Rhymes (Dirs. Jakob Schuh & Jan Lachauer) an all star extravaganza – featuring the vocal talents of the likes of Rob Brydon and Dominic West – based on the series of twisted poems from the beloved children's author Roald Dahl.

The full list of nominees is:

Cradle (Dir. Devon Manney, US)
Dear Basketball (Dir. Glen Keane, US)
Fox and the Whale (Dir. Robin Joseph, Canada)
Garden Party (Dirs. Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon & Lucas Navarro, France)
In a Heartbeat (Dirs. Esteban Bravo and Beth David, US)
Life Smartphone (Dir. Chenglin Xie, China)
Lost Property Office (Dir. Daniel Agdag, Australia)
Lou (Dir. Dave Mullins, US)
Negative Space (Dirs. Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, France)
Revolting Rhymes (Dirs. Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, UK)

Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch viewed all sixty-three eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in January.

Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.