Canada’s Oscar nods include best animated short, best documentary short

Several Canadians are heading to the Oscars.

The stop-motion fable “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” by Montreal’s Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski earned a nod for best animated short film.

The haunting tale about a sorrowful girl and the boy who loves her is set in Montreal at the dawn of the 20th century.

Also nominated is Montreal’s Alison McAlpine, who is up for best documentary short with “Perfectly a Strangeness,” an experimental film that captures three donkeys discovering an astronomical observatory in the Atacama Desert.

“KPop Demon Hunters,” written and co-directed by Toronto’s Maggie Kang, has been nominated for best animated feature.

The smash hit, which is the most-viewed film in Netflix’s history, also earned a nod for best original song for “Golden,” which in August hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Also nominated in the best animated feature category is “Elio,” co-written and co-directed by Domee Shi of Toronto.

The Canadian teams behind the look of “Frankenstein” are nominated for makeup and hairstyling — Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey. The production design tea on the film also received a nomination, including production designer Tamara Deverell and set decorator Shane Vieau.

The Guillermo del Toro Netflix film is also up for best picture, landing Canadian producer J. Miles Dale on the list of nominees.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.

-With files by Nicole Thompson.