Two People Exchanging Saliva, a black-and-white film written and directed by Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata, has been shortlisted for an Academy Award in the live action short film category.
The 36-minute film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this year, and has been making the festival rounds this fall and winter, winning various prizes and honors, including also being shortlisted for a 2026 César Award, often referred to as a “French Oscar.” The film is being distributed by the New Yorker and produced by Misia Films and art[cc]corp.
Singh is an artist whose work has been on view at galleries like Metro Pictures and Sprüth Magers. Musteata, a writer and curator with a PhD in art history, has collaborated with Singh (her partner) on other projects, including the exhibition “A Gothic Tale” and the accompanying film The Appointment.
Two People Exchanging Saliva takes place in present-day Paris, with a dystopian twist: kissing—any kind of intimacy, really—is forbidden and punishable by death, and goods and services are paid for with borderline-erotic slaps to the face. And it’s not a quick and painless death at that: people discovered to be “mentally ill” enough to succumb to temptation are hooded, zip-tied, and taken away in elegantly designed, unmarked cardboard coffins.
The film follows Malaise, a wide-eyed salesgirl who has just started a new job at an upscale department store, and Angine, an elegant, older woman who regularly shops there (and happens to be married to a rule-following coffin designer), as they try to resist their budding mutual attraction. (According to the New Yorker, who is distributing the film, Singh and Musteata shot Two People Exchanging Saliva at Galeries Lafayette. The swanky French department store has a partnership with the French production company MISIA Films to allow independent filmmakers to shoot there after hours; MISIA co-produced the film with Carol Cohen.)
A lot of tension and action is packed into 36 minutes. And despite the high-stakes, noir styling, and serious voiceover narration, there is humor, too. While the characters themselves barely crack a smile, it’s hard not to laugh, at least a little, at women named Malaise, Angine, and Petulante (Malaise’s jealous colleague) and a humorless husband named Chagrin.
Two People Exchanging Saliva is joined by 14 other live-action shorts on the Oscars shortlist. Nomination voting takes place in mid-January, with the final nominees to be announced on Jan. 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards take place on Mar. 15, 2026.
