Canadian family entertainment company CINAR Corporation has recently repaid an existing bank loan which was due on October 15, 2001. The corporation had US$26 million outstanding as of November 30, 2000 and this amount has now been repaid in the current fiscal year.

Anime at AFI Fest 2001: Thursday, November 01 - Sunday, November 11, 2001, Hollywood, California USA. Two Japanese animated feature films (dubbed in English) will premiere at AFI Fest 2001 at the Pacific Theatre in Hollywood (6433 Hollywood Blvd.). AH! MY GODDESS will screen Saturday, November 3rd at 4 pm and ESCAFLOWNE: A GIRL IN GAIA will screen Saturday, November 10th at 4 pm. Advance tickets available by calling 866 AFI-FEST or through www.afifest.com.

10th Annual Midwest Animators Conference: Friday, April 26 - Sunday, April 28, 2002, Downers Grove (suburban Chicago), Illinois USA. Sponsored by ASIFA Central, the conference features speakers who focus on various aspects of animation production. The emphasis for many of the presenters is the personal and artistic influences in their work. Another feature of the conference is screenings of various animations as well as open screenings for attendees to show their work.

The Society for Animation Studies (SAS) has updated their Website with a list of all papers presented at previous conferences. The 13th Annual SAS Conference "Animation, Economics and Politics," was held October 22 to 25, 2001 in Montreal, Canada. For more information, please visit the SAS Website.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:

The 2001 edition of the Ottawa International Student Animation Festival (SAFO) came to a close with the announcement of this year's winners. SAFO, the world's largest student animation festival, is held every other year in Ottawa, Canada. This year's festival ran from October 18 to October 21, 2001 and featured a variety of events,

4Kids Entertainment’s TAMA & FRIENDS has been licensed for TV broadcast with YTV of Canada, TV Record in Brazil, Media Set in Italy, SIC TV in Portugal and KM Productions for Arabic language markets. The animated children’s series features the adventures of Tama the kitten, who, along with his buddies, finds ways to solve complex problems that seem to elude their human companions. The 26 episode series premiered in U.S. first run syndication in September and has enjoyed a long running TV ratings success in Japan on Tokyo Broadcast System.

Taking a cue from such successful children’s programs turned stage shows like BARNEY and BLUE’S CLUES, one of TV's longest-running animated series, SCOOBY DOO comes to life. The live-action stage show SCOOBY-DOO IN STAGEFRIGHT - LIVE ON STAGE will debut on October 26, 2001 at the Palace Theater in Louisville, Kentucky. The live show is scheduled to perform in 28 cities throughout the United States and Canada.

* Friday, March 1 - Sunday, March 10, 2002. Durango, Colorado, USA.


Entry Deadline: Saturday, December 1, 2001.

The 2001 edition of the Ottawa International Student Animation Festival (SAFO 01) has come to a close with the announcement of this year's winners.



The International Jury consisting of Phil Mulloy (United Kingdom), Annick Teninge (France), and Koji Yamamura (Japan) presented fifteen prizes. The list of winners is as follows:



National Film Board of Canada Grand Prize:

Dog, Suzie Templeton, United Kingdom



Grand Prize Runner up:

Sub, Jessie Schmal, USA