The 98th Academy Awards delivered one of the night’s most unusual moments when the Best Live-Action Short Film category ended in a rare tie. The Oscar was jointly awarded to Two People Exchanging Saliva, directed by Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata, and The Singers, directed by Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt.
While both films shared the prestigious honor, the victory drew special attention to filmmaker Alexandre Singh, whose personal story and multicultural background added a deeper emotional layer to the win.
A Rare Tie at the Oscars
Ties at the Academy Awards are extremely uncommon. This year’s result brought back memories of the last notable tie in 2013, when Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall shared the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.
In the Live-Action Short Film category this year, voters gave equal recognition to two very different cinematic visions. Singh and Musteata’s Two People Exchanging Saliva stood alongside The Singers as joint winners, making the category one of the most talked-about moments of the ceremony.
The Film Behind the Win
Two People Exchanging Saliva is a French-language short drama written and directed by Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata. The project is a co-production between the United States and France and first premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2024.
The film quickly attracted attention within festival circuits for its unconventional storytelling and artistic style. Its success at the Oscars represents the culmination of a journey that began on the independent film festival stage.
Alexandre Singh’s Multicultural Roots
Alexandre Singh’s background reflects a blend of cultures that shaped his creative outlook. Born in 1980 in Bordeaux, France, Singh is the son of an Indian father from Punjab and a French mother.
His father moved to the United Kingdom from India in the 1960s, a time when immigrants from South Asia often faced significant challenges adapting to life in Europe.
Singh has previously spoken about the difficult experiences his father encountered during those early years in Britain. Arriving with a beard and turban, his father struggled to find acceptance but gradually built a life through education and determination, eventually earning multiple academic degrees.
Despite adapting to life in the West, Singh’s father remained deeply proud of his Indian heritage. However, the filmmaker has said he lost that connection to his roots after his father passed away when he was just 21.
A Difficult Conversation About Art
Singh has also reflected on how his decision to pursue a career in the arts was initially difficult for his father to accept.
When he was admitted to study fine arts at the University of Oxford, Singh described it as one of the happiest moments of his life. Yet he revealed that for his father, who had worked tirelessly to build stability as an immigrant, the idea of studying art seemed impractical and troubling.
Despite that tension, Singh ultimately followed his creative passion, a choice that eventually led him to filmmaking and now to an Academy Award.
The Power of Art
During his acceptance speech at the Oscars, Singh spoke about the lasting impact art can have on society.
He said that creativity in forms such as cinema, theatre, and dance can slowly change people’s perspectives and shape the world over time.
According to Singh, artistic expression may not always bring immediate transformation, but its influence can ripple across generations.
A Career Built Through Short Films
Before his Oscar-winning project, Singh had already built a reputation in the world of short films and visual art. His earlier projects include The Appointment released in 2019 and Plan Large from 2016.
These works helped establish his reputation for blending cinematic storytelling with artistic experimentation, a style that eventually led to the creation of Two People Exchanging Saliva.
Final Words
The shared Oscar win for Two People Exchanging Saliva and The Singers turned an already exciting awards ceremony into a historic moment. For Alexandre Singh, the recognition also represents the culmination of a deeply personal journey shaped by family history, cultural identity, and artistic ambition.
As the filmmaker celebrated his first Academy Award, his story stood as a reminder of how cinema often reflects not just creativity, but the powerful human experiences that inspire it.
