The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva Share Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film
In a notable turn of events at the Oscars on Sunday night, a rare tie occurred in the category of Best Live-Action Short Film. Both The Singers (Netflix) and Two People Exchanging Saliva (Canal+/The New Yorker) were awarded the prestigious honor.
Throughout Oscar history, there have only been seven ties, with the latest occurring in 2013 when Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty shared the award for Best Sound Editing. The only previous tie in the Live-Action Short category took place over three decades ago, in 1995, when Trevor and Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life both received the accolade.
While accepting the award on behalf of The Singers, director Sam A. Davis expressed his surprise: “Wow. I didn’t know that was a thing, a tie. But I’m happy to be up here.” He also took a moment to acknowledge his parents for encouraging him throughout his journey: “who convinced a kid from Potterville, Michigan, that this was a viable career avenue.”
Davis extended his gratitude to his team, particularly producers David Breschel and Jack Piatt, stating, “To our entire crew, but especially to these guys standing behind me, who willed this thing into existence.” He highlighted the incredible cast, many of whom were first-time actors, including New York City subway busker Mike Yung. He thanked various supporters, including Netflix, his girlfriend Paris, and the La Habra Moose Lodge, as well as the Academy, humorously acknowledging the unusual nature of his thanks: “Crazy sentence, I know.”
As he concluded his speech, Davis emphasized the thematic depth of his film: “The Singers is a simple story about the power of music and art to bring us together in a moment when we live in an increasingly isolated world. May we keep looking for beauty in unexpected places, and may we all be brave enough to keep on singing.”
Meanwhile, presenter Kumail Nanjiani lightheartedly remarked, “Ironic that the short film Oscar is going to take twice as long.”
Filmmakers Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata later took the stage to accept the award for Two People Exchanging Saliva. Musteata expressed her joy, saying, “Thank you…We are so happy to be sharing this Oscar with The Singers. We love all of our fellow nominees and we’re so, so grateful to everyone who has supported our film and who made this film.”
She further expressed gratitude to the Academy for recognizing a film “that is weird and that is queer and that is made by a majority of women.”
Though Singh’s microphone was cut off mid-speech, he managed to share his thoughts, thanking the Academy for “rewarding a French film made by a Franco-Indian Brit, a Romanian-American, an Argentinian, an Italian.” He thoughtfully addressed the broader context, stating, “that is why we make films, isn’t it? Because we believe that art can change people’s souls. Maybe it takes 10 years’ time, but we can change society through art, through creativity, through theater and ballet. And also cinema.”
The narratives of the winning films present stark contrasts: The Singers revolves around an impromptu sing-off in a bar, while Two People Exchanging Saliva depicts a dystopian society where kissing is punishable by death, and transactions are made through slaps to the face, featuring an unhappy character named Angine who compulsively shops and develops an interest in a lively salesgirl.
Other nominees in the Live-Action Short category included Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi with Butcher’s Stain, Lee Knight and James Dean with A Friend of Dorothy, and Julia Aks and Steve Pinder with Jane Austen’s Period Drama. Among the winners this year, Davis was the only one with prior nominations, having been recognized for his production of 2023’s Nai Nai & Wài Pó.
