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.”

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 dis...