Maestro by Geza M. Toth (top); West Bank Story by Ari Sandel (middle); Too Few of Us by Borja Cobeaga (bottom)
The New York City version of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' annual "Shorts!" program, featuring the year's Oscar-nominated narrative short films, will be presented on Saturday, February 17, at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Academy Theater.
The screenings will be hosted by none other than Robert Osborne, Hollywood Reporter columnist, Turner Classic Movies host, and official biographer of the Academy Awards.
The screening films are:
Short Film (Animated)
- The Danish Poet, Torill Kove, director (a Danish poet travels to Norway to meet a celebrated writer)
- Lifted, Gary Rydstrom, director (alien abductor-in-training tries to get a sleeping farmer onto its spaceship)
- The Little Matchgirl, Roger Allers, director; Don Hahn, producer (Hans Christian Andersen's sad tale of the little girl and her matches)
- Maestro, Geza M. Toth, director (a singing bird gets ready for its grand performance)
- No Time for Nuts, Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier, directors (while trying to bury a nut in the Ice Age, Scrat discovers a time machine)
Short Film (Live Action)
- Binta y la gran idea / Binta and the Great Idea, Javier Fesser, director; Luis Manso, producer (A seven-year-old African girl talks about her father, who has an idea he believes will change the world)
- Éramos Pocos / Too Few of Us , Borja Cobeaga, director (after his wife leaves him, Joaquín enlists his son to get the woman's mother to help them keep house)
- Helmer & Son, Soren Pilmark, director; Kim Magnusson, executive producer (a man must go to a rest home to deal with his father, who has locked himself up inside an armoire)
- The Saviour, Peter Templeman, director; Stuart Parkyn, producer (a Mormon evangelist finds himself in love with a married woman)
- West Bank Story, Ari Sandel, director (no tragic Palestinian-Israeli romance here; instead, this is a musical comedy set in the falafel stands of the West Bank)
Tickets for "Shorts!" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. All seating is unreserved. Tickets may be reserved by calling 1-888-778-7575. Depending on availability, tickets may be purchased the day of the screenings. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The Academy Theater is located at 111 East 59th Street in New York City.