WASHINGTON, PA (Feb. 15, 2011)—Washington & Jefferson College is continuing the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of its Olin Fine Arts Center by celebrating the Academy awards.
For the second year in a row, as part of its annual arts series, W&J is presenting a two-night look at Oscar® Nominated Short Films Feb. 23 (live action) and Feb. 24 (animated). Both events begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Olin Fine Arts Center.
For more information, visit http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv/.
The 84th Annual Academy Awards will be presented Sunday, Feb. 26.
The 2012 Oscar-nominated Short Films
Live Action
∙ “Pentecost”: When Damian is forced to serve as an altar boy at an important mass in his local parish, he faces a difficult choice: conform to the status quo or serve an extended ban from his life’s passion—football.
∙ “Raju”: Director Max Zaehle, together with his Director of Photography Sin Huh and wonderful actors Wotan Wilke Möhring and Julia Richter, succeed at making the moral dilemma faced by couples wishing to adopt emotionally palpable.
∙ “The Shore”: After 25 years in exile, Jim Mahon (Ciaran Hinds) returns to Ireland to show his American daughter Patty (Kerry Condon) his Belfast roots. But things don’t go as planned when she learns of a secret love triangle and a long-lost best friend, Paddy (Conleth Hill). Their reconciliation leads to hilarious confusion. Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Terry George, “The Shore” won best director and best actor at the Rhode Island Film Festival and is nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award.
∙ “Time Freak”: A neurotic inventor creates a time machine, only to get caught up travelling around yesterday.
∙ “Tuba Atlantic”: Everybody is going to die one day. Oskar, 70, is going to die in six days. He is now ready to forgive his brother for a disagreement years ago. Will he reach his brother, who he believes lives on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, before it’s too late?
Animated
∙ “Sunday/Dimanche”: Every Sunday, it's the same old routine! The train clatters through the village and almost shakes the pictures off the wall. In the church, Dad dreams about his toolbox. Later, Grandma will get a visit and the animals will meet their fate.
∙ “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”: Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, "The Wizard of Oz," and a love for books, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2-D animation), award-winning author/illustrator William Joyce and co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.
∙ “La Luna”: This is a fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise awaits the little boy as he discovers his family's most unusual line of work.
∙ “A Morning Stroll”: When a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we're left to wonder which one is the real city slicker.
∙ “Wild Life”: Calgary, 1909: an Englishman moves to the Canadian frontier, but is singularly unsuited to it. His letters home are much sunnier than the reality. Intertitles compare his fate to that of a comet.
The advance single ticket price (or season ticket package) includes tickets for both nights. Individual tickets will be available at the door for specific nights, but for the full ticket price: $12 general admission; $10 for seniors 60 and over, alumni and non-W&J students; and $7 for children 12 and under.
A variety of additional theatre, music, and art gallery events are scheduled throughout the school year. For more information about Olin Fine Arts Center, tickets and a schedule of events, call 724-223-6546.
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