As films compete for Oscar voters' attention, celebrity EPs make their mark

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With 86 films eligible for international feature, 201 for documentary feature and 207 for live-action short at the 2026 Academy Awards, the race for Oscars is extremely competitive well beyond the “big five” categories.“Don’t torture me,” laughs Aleksandr “Sasha” Molochnikov, writer-director of live-action short “Extremist.” “It was 150 just weeks ago.” As a result, contenders now frequently add A-list executive producers to help their profile.Molochnikov attracted Ben Stiller as EP for his true story of young Russian Sasha Skochilenko, who changed supermarket price tags to anti-war messages.

Initially, Molochnikov feared his “niche story about Russia” might “get less relevant because the Ukrainian war would be replaced with another, which is sort of what was happening.” Instead, his tale of what it means to speak out in Russia caught the actor and “Severance” director’s eye.“I was struck by how immediate and honest it felt,” says Stiller.“I knew immediately I wanted to help get it in front of as many people as possible.”Another esteemed EP on the film, Odessa Rae (“Navalny”), is also an original producer of “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” One of three Palestine-set entries in the international feature category, representing Tunisia, its EPs include Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer.“I know the movie is emotionally strong,” says writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania of the docudrama, which chronicles the final hours of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who died under Israeli fire after hours talking with Red Crescent call center operators.

Her five famous EPs, she says, “loved the movie and wanted to be with us in the credits.The main idea was to take it outside the niche of being a subtitled, Arabic-speaking movie and to amplify Hind’s voice.”Similarly, Palestinian American filmmaker C...