Curated by Ron Diamond,”The Animation Show of Shows” returns for its second year in theaters with 13 charming family-friendly films. A Skype Q&A with Diamond will follow the screening.

Highlights include “About a Mother,” a new folktale with echoes of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree,” Disney/Pixar’s sweet “Piper,” and the latest in 360º storytelling in Google’s touching father-and daughter-journey “Pearl” by Academy Award® winner Patrick Osborne. The show also features a late-night bonus of four provocative shorts exclusively for mature audiences. Many of these shorts have garnered awards from prestigious festivals around the world.

For 16 years, “The Animation Show of Shows,” founded and curated by Diamond, has been presenting new and innovative short films to animation studios, societies, schools and festivals around the world. Over the years, 32 of the films showcased in the Show of Shows went on to receive Academy Award nominations, with nine films winning the Oscar. The only downside was that a relatively small number of people, primarily those in the professional animation community, had the opportunity to see these cinematic gems in a theatrical setting.

Then, in 2015, the 17th edition was expanded to include public screenings in cities around the world, allowing general audiences to experience these singular works of art on the big screen, “as they were meant to be seen,” Diamond said. The runtime for the 17 short films is 102 minutes including a five-minute intermission after the 13th film to allow children 13 years and under to leave as the last four films contain mature themes.

Film Club screenings are preceded by a movie trivia quiz and followed by an audience discussion.