Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata Take Oscar for Live Action Short Film in Rare Tie
The Academy Awards rarely share a trophy. On Sunday night, they did: artists and filmmakers Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata won the Oscar for best live action short film for “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” tying with “The Singers,” an 18-minute musical comedy directed by Sam Davis.
Presented by comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani, the category’s announcement landed with visible disbelief in the room. “It’s a tie — I’m not joking, it’s actually a tie,” he told the audience from the stage, urging everyone to “focus up” as the winners processed the moment.
Singh and Musteata’s film, a 36-minute French-language short, has traveled widely since premiering at the Telluride Film Festival. Set in present-day Paris, “Two People Exchanging Saliva” imagines a society in which kissing — and nearly any form of physical intimacy — is outlawed and punishable by death. The film’s world-building is both clinical and absurd: in one of its most unsettling conceits, customers pay for everyday purchases with ritualized slaps delivered to store employees.
At the center are two women navigating desire under surveillance. Malaise, a department-store saleswoman, and Angine, an elegant regular customer, find themselves drawn to one another in a culture where even minor transgressions can turn fatal. The film’s tension hinges on that contradiction: tenderness treated as a capital crime, while sanctioned violence becomes a form of currency.
During his acceptance speech, Singh — known in the art world for elaborate performances and narrative-driven works — used the Oscars stage to underline a belief in art’s civic force, while also taking a light jab at recent comments by Timothée Chalamet. “We believe that art can change people’s souls… we can change society through art and creativity, through theatre and ballet,” he said.
Musteata, a writer and curator with a PhD in art history, later described the win in plain terms: “It’s a dream.”
Both artists arrive at the Oscars with deep roots in contemporary art as well as film. Singh has exhibited with galleries including Sprüth Magers and the now-closed Metro Pictures. Musteata has collaborated with him across exhibitions, films, and publications, including the exhibition “A Gothic Tale” and the short film “The Appointment.”
The tie places “Two People Exchanging Saliva” in an unusual Oscar lineage, while also spotlighting a mode of filmmaking that borrows from the strategies of contemporary art: speculative narrative, stylized systems, and a willingness to make social rules feel newly strange. For Singh and Musteata, the Academy’s split decision reads less like a compromise than an opening — a signal that formally adventurous shorts can compete on the industry’s biggest stage.
By George Nelson
March 16, 2026
