Novato director overwhelmed by Oscar nod

Some directors take years to get an Oscar nomination. Some never do.

So when Robin Fryday heard she had been nominated for an Oscar on her very first film, she was shocked:

“We jumped up and down and and yelled and screamed and cried together,” Fryday said. “It’s very exciting.”

The 53-year-old Novato-based photographer was nominated along with co-director Gail Dolgin for their 26-minute documentary, “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement.” The short premiered at Sundance last year and was shown at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October.

The movie centers on the fight of one black Alabama barber to force racial integration in his city by pushing for his two boys to be allowed into a white school.

The Bay Area boasted a handful of other Oscar nominees, including Ren Klyce for sound editing and sound mixing of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and Gary Rydstrom and Richard Hymns for their work on “War Horse.”