Download Kunio Katō's Oscar nominated "Le Maison en Petits Cubes" from iTunes

by Chris MaGee

More awards related news for this Saturday, this time on the animated short film front. Kunio Katō's short animated film "Le Maison en Petits Cubes (Tsumiki no ie)", nominated tomorrow night in the Best Animated Short Film category at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, has been made available by Magnolia Pictures for download through iTunes along with all the other nominees in the category.

The 12-minute film which follows an old man who must shore up his house brick by brick to prevent it sinking into the sea has already picked up top prize at last year's Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

I'm not sure if this iTunes download is exclusive to the U.S. because a pretty thorough search of the iTunes store from here in Toronto came up with nothing. If anyone in Canada tracks it down please let us know.

Thanks to Anime News Network for this bit of good news.