December 2025 – The film Amarela has been shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards®, in the category Live Action Short Film. It appears on the list released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the U.S. awards, announced on Tuesday afternoon, December 16. The five final nominees will be announced on January 22, 2026, and the awards ceremony is scheduled for March 2.
Written and directed by André Hayato Saito, starring Melissa Uehara (in her screen debut at age 14), and produced by Mayra Faour Auad, Gabrielle Auad and Ilda Santiago (MyMama Entertainment), Amarela has screened at more than 100 festivals in 35 countries. The film has appeared at major international cinema showcases, including the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film; the Havana Film Festival (Best Fiction Short); the Chicago Southland International Film Festival (Best Drama Short); HollyShorts; Clermont-Ferrand; Hollywood Shortsfest (Best Short); and the Festival Tous Courts (Grand Prix). More recently, it won the Canal Brasil Award for Short Films at the Kinoforum – São Paulo International Short Film Festival.
According to writer and director André Hayato Saito, it is an immense joy to represent not only Yellow (Asian-descendant) people in Brazil, but also to amplify a story about the children of global diasporas, who grow up trying to stitch together identity, affection and belonging. Such recognition affirms that Yellow stories matter, that this presence exists, persists and deserves to be seen. “Seeing a film like Amarela move forward toward the Oscars and travel so far is, in itself, an act of healing—for us, for our families, for our ancestors and, above all, for future generations, who will be able to see themselves on screen and recognize who they are,” Saito celebrates.
Amarela is the third installment in a short film trilogy by MyMama Entertainment with André Hayato Saito, which explores his Japanese ancestry through an intimate, author-driven perspective. This search for identity began with the short documentary Kokoro to Kokoro, which focused on the friendship between his paternal grandmother and her best Japanese friend. The film was named Best Short Documentary at the Rome Short Film Festival, received an honorable mention at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival, and competed for the Redentor Award in the Premiere Brasil section at the Rio Film Festival.
The trilogy continued with Vento Dourado, centered on his maternal grandmother, Haruko Hirata, who at 94 years old finds herself on the threshold of existence. The short screened at major festivals such as Sheffield Doc/Fest, Moscow, Festival do Rio and Kinoforum, and competed for the Grande Otelo Award, receiving a nomination for Best Short Documentary from the Brazilian Academy of Cinema.
The third film in the trilogy, Amarela, currently shortlisted for the 2026 Oscars, is set in São Paulo in July 1998. On the day of the World Cup final against France, Erika Oguihara (played by Melissa Uehara), a 14-year-old Japanese-Brazilian teenager who rejects her family’s Japanese traditions, is eager to celebrate a world championship for her country. As tension builds during the match, Erika experiences a form of violence that seems invisible and plunges her into a painful sea of emotions.
For the film’s producers, Mayra Faour Auad, Gabrielle Auad and Ilda Santiago, amplifying André Hayato Saito’s cinema is also amplifying a profound reflection on identity and ancestry. Mayra quotes Ailton Krenak to express this encounter: “You cannot forget where you are from or where you came from. This is not important only for the individual; it is important for the collective, for a human community to know who it is and where it is going.”
“This step and this recognition move us deeply because they are the result of a relationship built over time, trust and commitment. Working with Saito means sharing a rare creative process, guided by sensitivity, generosity and deep mutual respect,” says Mayra Faour Auad, producer and founder of MyMama Entertainment.
Amarela, produced by a team that is predominantly Brazilian with Asian heritage, serves as the starting point for the director’s first feature film, also produced by MyMama Entertainment, titled Crisântemo Amarelo (Yellow Chrysanthemum), in co-production with One Two Films (Germany), Loaded Films (Japan) and Blue Monday (France). Currently in financing, the project was selected for the Torino Feature Lab 2024, a program aimed at director/producer teams developing feature films, where it won a production award, and it also took part in the TIFF Filmmaker Lab. The project has pre-licensing from ZDF/ARTE, private investment from Japan, and is pre-selected for two international funds and one national fund, awaiting the green light to move into production.
The film is a MyMama Entertainment production, in association with Fernanda Takai, Madre and Sato Company.
Marking the screen debut of young Japanese-Brazilian actress Melissa Uehara, Amarela is produced by Mayra Faour Auad, Gabrielle Auad and Ilda Santiago, co-produced by André Hayato Saito and Tati Wan, with executive production by João da Terra.
Rodrigo Pasianotto, Jacqueline Sato, Alejandro Saevich, Stefan Kozak and Ana Kozak serve as executive producers, with Nelson Sato and Fernando Camargo as associate producers.
Cinematography is by Hélcio “Alemão” Nagamine; production design by Luana Kawamura Demange; editing by Caroline Leone; casting by Gy Ogata; costumes by Yuri Kobayashi; and the original score by Dudu Tsuda and Lilian Nakahodo.
