Rare Oscars tie goes to best live-action short film winners ‘The Singers,’ ‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’

In a rare occurrence, two films tied for the Oscar for best live-action short film – something that has only happened six times before.

“The Singers,” directed by Sam A. Davis and produced by Jack Piatt, and “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” by Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata, won the coveted Oscar on Sunday evening.

Kumail Nanjiani, who presented the prize, made it clear that he was not joking when he said there were two winners.

“It’s a tie. I’m not kidding. It’s actually a tie,” he said. “So everyone, calm down. We’re going to get through this!”

He then announced each winner individually, creating two awards speeches. Nanjiani joked between his speeches: “It’s ironic that the short film Oscar takes twice as long.”

This award was the first Oscar win and nomination for Piatt and the first win and second nomination for Davis.

The team of “Two People Echanging Saliva” accepted their award in second place, with Musteata saying: “We are very happy to share this Oscar with “The Singers”. We love all of our fellow nominees.

This award was Musteata and Singh’s first Oscar nomination and win.

Singh, in his acceptance speech, highlighted the diversity of the team that made the film and emphasized that art can “change people’s souls”.

“It may take ten years, but we can change society through art, creativity, theater, ballet and also cinema,” he said to loud laughter from the crowd. His reply mocked Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet for his comments this month when he said “no one cares” about ballet and opera.

After their speeches, host Conan O’Brien joked, “I just want to congratulate both winners. You just ruined 22 million Oscar pools.”

Tonight marks the seventh tie in the 98-year history of the Oscars.

The first took place in 1932, when the match between Fredric March and Wallace Beery was considered a tie for best actor. In 1968, Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tied for best actress.

Before tonight’s tie in the live-action short race, the most recent was in 2012, when “Skyfall” and “Zero Dark Thirty” both won for sound editing.