The Oscars have never been short of unlikely contenders, but the 2027 race is gaining a particularly unusual entrant. The Vatican is preparing to put a film forward for Academy consideration for the first time in the history of the awards. The development arrives through a documentary that is far removed from the usual machinery of awards-season filmmaking, centering instead on disability, grief, and community, titled Green Lava. 

Now, the road to Hollywood’s biggest awards ceremony has acquired an unexpected new traveler, carrying a deeply personal story from the Dolomites.

According to Variety, the Vatican is set to submit Green Lava for consideration in the Best Documentary Short Film category, marking the first time in the Academy Awards’ 97-year history that the Vatican has put forward a film. The 39-minute documentary follows Italian Giacomo Mattivi, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is rebuilding his life after the death of his brother, Mattia.

Lia Beltrami and Ali Aksu directed the film, which was produced by Beltrami’s Emotions to Generate Change in collaboration with Vatican News, Radio Vaticana and Vatican Media. The story is set around the Dolomites in northern Italy, where Mattivi’s relationship with his community becomes central to the film’s account of resilience and inclusion.

"Giacomo’s story deserves to be known by everyone," said Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, as per Variety. Beltrami, who lives in the same village as Mattivi and his family, has also described the local community’s response to him as one of the forces behind the documentary.

Unlike a country’s International Feature Film submission, Green Lava does not require the Vatican to function as an official national selection body. Documentary shorts follow their own Academy rules, making the Vatican’s involvement possible without entering the international-feature system.

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And before any golden statuette enters the picture, there is a rather precise Academy process standing between a submission and an Oscar nomination.

For the 99th Academy Awards, the Academy’s Documentary Feature Film rules cover films running more than 40 minutes; Green Lava, at 39 minutes, is instead entering the documentary short category. The Academy maintains separate eligibility rules for documentary shorts, including qualifying theatrical, festival or other recognized screenings.

The documentary categories also operate through a preliminary voting process. Academy members determine a shortlist before the final nominations are selected, while eligible Academy members participate in the final round of voting across the categories.

The most recent Best Documentary Short Film winner was All the Empty Rooms at the 98th Academy Awards in March 2026. The category's nominees also included Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, Children No More: Were and Are Gone, The Devil is Busy, and Perfectly a Strangeness. 

For Green Lava, however, the immediate milestone is simpler: completing its eligibility and submission process. If it advances, the Vatican will have already accomplished something unprecedented before Oscar night even arrives.

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What are your thoughts about the Vatican's first-ever Academy submission? Let us know in the comments.