Irish film on Oscar long-list for best animated short

An animated Irish short film is on the long-list for an Oscar nomination, The Irish Film Board announced today.

The Missing Scarf is a black comedy narrated in the by George Takei of Star Trek and is nominated in the Academy Award’s best animatesd short category.

“US reactions have been very strong to the film. Audiences have responded well to the ideas in the script,” director Eoin Duffy said.

The comedy is about Albert the squirrel’s quest to find a missing scarf and looks at some of the common fears in life - of the unknown,of failure, of rejection and of death.

“It explores our individual place in the universe in a fun and quirky way and the audience is allowed to draw their own conclusions at the end...I think the universal appeal is there as the subject matter applies to anyone,” Mr Duffy said.

The final five nominees will be announced in January ahead of the ceremony on March 2nd.

It has already picked up awards at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, the Galway Film Fleadh , New Hampshire Film Festival and the Seminci Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain.

The film was directed by Eoin Duffy and produced by Jamie Hogan for Belly Creative Ltd. It was funded by the Irish Film Board, the BAI, RTÉ and the Arts Council. Watch the trailer here