OSCAR SHORTS TONIGHT WITH MFF'S OWN JED DIETZ   Don't miss the Oscar Nominated Shorts at The Charles! Continuing a popular tradition, the Charles will offer two programs this weekend of Academy Award nominated Shorts- Animated and Live Action. These are not to be missed because they are hard to find anywhere else, and this will probably be the only chance you'll get to see them on the big screen. This represents a particularly diverse range of filmmaking talents, so we hope you can catch both Shorts Programs. The Maryland Film Festival has a special commitment to Short Films, programming lots of them, and devoting our Opening Night to them (with crucial support from the Baker Fund). Festival Director Jed Dietz will host the Animated Shorts Program that starts at 5:00PM on Friday. There will be a brief intro and some Q afterwards. The whole program runs about 90 minutes. Video Americain to Feature New MFF Section! Video Americain has been Baltimore's Best Video Store for 20 years, in part because we've always served as a haven for the cinephile. We've carefully cultivated a library where the mainstream rubs elbows with underground shock and the deep catalogs of the world's best directors; best of all, we're still going strong in both Baltimore locations. Because we're such big fans of the Maryland Film Festival, we're going to make it easy for you to revisit old favorites and catch up on those few that slipped under your radar -- in 2010 we'll be featuring sections devoted entirely to past Maryland Film Festival favorites.