Star Wars Visions ‘The Village Bride’ could snag an Oscar nomination next year

When it comes to winning Oscars, Star Wars has earned its fair share of nominations and wins. Historically, considering film and TV awards in general, the majority of its awards have come from its visual effects, music, and related feats. Next year, however, the franchise has a chance to score a win in another category thanks to Star Wars Visions.

This morning, CBR reported that “The Village Bride” will likely get an Academy Award nomination for the 2021/2022 season – and that the short qualifies in its expected category because it spent.a week playing in a theater.

According to Cartoon Brew, in order to quality for an Oscar nomination in the Animated Short Film category, films under 40 minutes in length must meet one of two parameters: It must either win at the  the Student Academy Awards or win an award at a qualifying film festival, or it must play in theaters. Once a short film meets one of those two qualifiers, its filmmakers can submit it for a nomination.

“The Village Bride” played at the Los Angeles El Captain Theatre from September 21 to 27. Directed by Hitoshi Haga and animated by Kinema Citrus, the Visions short became an instant fan-favorite with many viewers ranking it among their top three episodes of the anthology series.

Like many of the nine episodes in the series, this short drew inspiration from familiar Star Wars themes and created a unique, captivating story about a Jedi’s daring selflessness in the face of evil. A village, planning to sacrifice two of its own to avoid the wrath of the bandits asserting control over its people, sees firsthand what happens when a Force user puts the good of the universe before themselves.

“The Village Bride” and all other Star Wars Visions shorts are available on Disney+ in both English and their original Japanese,