2013 Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films and Live Action Short Films Catlow Theater on February 23, 2013 from 12:00 – 4:00 pm

On Saturday, February 23, Barrington-area movie lovers will have insider access to two of the most compelling and hardest to see Oscar-nominated film categories -- Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film. There are five nominees in each category for a total of ten films.

This special viewing is just one day before the 2013 Academy Awards and will feature all of the nominated films. The Animated Short Films will be shown first, beginning at 12:00 noon, followed by the Live Action Short Films, beginning at about 2:00 p.m.

This year’s animated nominees include the first-ever movie nomination from the creators of the long-running series “The Simpsons.” In “The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare” the baby, Maggie, copes with a day in pre-school. Another nominee, “Adam & Dog,” explores that proverbial “moment in time” when dog and human being first met in the Garden of Eden.

The other nominees in the Animated Short Films category include:

“Fresh Guacamole” – A stop-motion animated film where an unseen chef prepares a dish using some very non-food ingredients with a “side” of very creative cinematic techniques.

“Head Over Heels” – Illustrates how two adults, who philosophically cannot agree over which way is up, divergently live their lives in the same house that way, literally.

“Paperman” – Focuses on the plight of a young man in a 1940’s downtown skyscraper office building attempting to get the attention of a young woman who works in an office on the same floor across the street.

The films in this category average a running time of less than 10 minutes.

By contrast, the nominated live-action films generally look at more serious subjects and average about 20 minutes in length. Two of the films include hard looks at life from the perspectives of young children – one living in Afghanistan and another in Somalia. The three other live-action films examine the subjects of aging, depression and love in the afterlife.

The nominations in the Live Action Category are:

“ASAD” – A coming of age fable of a Somali boy as he struggles to survive in his war-torn land.

“Buzkashi Boys” –Set in Afghanistan, a coming of age story of two best friends who struggle to realize their dreams in one of the most war-torn countries on Earth.

“Curfew” – At the lowest point of his life, a man gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his nine-year old niece for a few hours.

“Death of a Shadow” – In this dramatic fantasy a soldier, who died during World War I, is given the opportunity to see his one true love once again.

“Henry” – Henry, a great concert pianist, has his life thrown into turmoil the day the love of his life disappears mysteriously.

As a courtesy to families with younger children, there will be a brief intermission between the animated and live action showings should they choose not to watch the later films. Motion picture ratings are not currently available for all the films. However, previews and more information about each of the animated films are available at: http://oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-animated/adam-and-dog and live action http://oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-live-action/asad. Links to each of the other films are available at both of these sites.

There are a limited number of seats available at the theater for this special event, so plan to purchase your tickets early. Tickets for this event are $10 each and are available at the Catlow Theater, Baloney’s Restaurant and the Barrington Village Hall (200 South Hough Street in Barrington; Phone: (847) 304-3400; Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm).