This is not a drill: Taylor Swift might be nominated for an Oscar this year

Back in 2012, Taylor Swift released her song All Too Well to much fanfare. Nearly a decade later, the 32-year-old artist made her filmmaking debut when she dropped All Too Well: The Short Film, a 14-minute-long production that looks at the ups-and-downs of a relationship set to the 10-minute-long, unabridged version of the eponymous song. This latest effort may have garnered Taylor her very first Oscar nomination.

Taylor, who recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her lockdown album Folklore, was spotted at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York earlier this summer alongside Sadie Sink (Max of Stranger Things!) and Dylan O'Bryen (Stiles of Teen Wolf!), the two stars of the short film. The trio attended the screening of All Too Well: The Short Film together and Taylor then spoke about her cinematic influences to an excited audience, specifically telling fans that the production "is not a music video." She proceeded to perform the song live at the event.

According to the official guidelines of the Academy Awards, the production qualifies for this year's ceremony because it screened at the AMC Lincoln Square theater in New York for a week last fall, from November 12, 2021 through November 18, 2021. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "while that timing would have precluded it from this season's best picture race, which requires a release within the calendar year preceding the Oscars ceremony, it works just fine for the best live action short race."

Although Taylor is no stranger to prestigious awards (she has 11 Grammys under her belt), an Oscar would clearly be an exciting addition to her already-crowded mantel. What's more, rumor has it that Taylor's original song Carolina, which is featured in the film Where the Crawdads Sing, might also be nominated for an Academy Award. What a year it's been for Taylor.

The singer-songwriter is not the only musician in the running for a best live action short Oscar nomination in 2022. In fact, Kendrick Lamar's We Cry Together, a six-minute film that he made to supplement his eponymous song, also qualifies for the race. 

Kendrick himself stars in the production opposite Taylour Paige, of Zola fame. The duo plays a quarreling couple, which clearly seems to be a popular concept to explore these days.

Whoever will end up winning within the pretty hefty category is yet to be seen, but we'll sure be excited to see how it all unfolds at the 95th Academy Awards, scheduled to air on March 12, 2023.