The 5,777 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must return their completed Oscar nominations ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers no later than 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 23.

Unlike other years, finding ideas for new short projects were scarce. This year, that has not been the case.

The World Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb is traditionally the second oldest festival in Europe. In the course of its thirty-year-old history it has systematically been following world animation production through a number of films in competition and out of competition. Built on the tradition of the Zagreb School of Animation, Animafest, the festival oriented towards auteur film, has made a reputation of being one of the most significant events in the domain of animated film.

Approved by ASIFA (International Animated Film Association) and founded by the City of Zagreb and the production studio Zagreb Film the first World Festival of Animated Film was held in June 1972, headed by Zelimir Matko, the festival's first director and its driving force who was working tirelessly for the festival until he died in 1977. Since that time, the festival has hosted many renowned makers of animated film, gaining an international reputation mainly thanks to its long-standing managing director Margit Buba Antauer. In 2005, Animafest introduced the programme of animated feature film.

Since then this biennale festival has turned into an annual event – each odd-numbered year is devoted to feature film and even-numbered one to short film. By decision of the Festival Council, made in 2007, Animafest is under a new art and organisation leadership that aims at continuing the festival tradition by developing programmes that would enable authors and professionals a more active participation at the festival. With new initiatives, such as the founding of Regional Pitching Forum for projects in Development and Animafest Fund, Animafest aspires to become an active participant in encouraging the production and distribution of animated film.

Avatar, An Education and The Hurt Locker have each received eight nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2010.

A year ago the National Film Board of Canada gave Canadians unprecedented access to 70 years of collective experience with the launch of its online screening room, NFB.ca.

Dr. Toon explores the parasocial role of the ensemble in animation.

The Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film was founded in 1982 and is one of the biggest and most important festivals of animation film worldwide. More than 50.000 spectators and 1.500 professionals are attending the festival. Over 50,000 euros prize money in total is awarded in seven competition categories. The Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film works in close relation with fmx 2010, Europe’s biggest conference on animation, effects, games and interactive media.

The 17th International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart / Germany (4.-9. May 2010) invites international advertising agencies, filmmakers and production companies to submit their films to our international competition Under Commission until January 29th 2010. Under Commission is the competition for commissioned animations. Prizes are awarded in the categories animated music video, commercials and TV trailer. Any animated commissioned film of the categories commercial spot, music video and TV ident including computer generated animation and combinations of life action and animation completed after October 01, 2008 may participate. There is no entry fee.

Four films will be nominated in each category. The award ceremony will be taking place during the festival (4.-9. May 2010). The Art Directors Club of Germany ADC, the Art Directors Club of Europe ADC*E and the Art Directors Club New York are cooperation partners.

More information is available at our homepage. There you can also download the submission form, rules & regulations as well as the call for entries. Online submissions can be made at Reelport.

Cartoons on the Bay and the Pulcinella Awards will take place in Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino from April 15-18, 2010.

New aspects of the festival include a new cross-media and interactive animation categories and a free branded new business area to strengthen meetings among all the delegates.

The Animation Dance Association is a unique competition, recently launched to seek out the most creative, innovative and gifted animators around the planet.

PLASTIC PAPER is an international festival of animated, illustrated and puppet film that takes place May 5-8, 2010 at the Park Theatre in Winnipeg, Canada. The festival is one component of the year-round organizational activities of the Big Smash! Film Collective. PLASTIC PAPER's programming is a mix of premieres, retrospective screenings, short films and features with special guests, workshops, multi-media presentations, installations and exhibits, artist talks, and gatherings where the artists and the audience can interact more informally.

All filmmakers, anywhere, are invited to submit your short or feature film -- drama, comedy, documentary, animation or experimental work. It must have been completed since January 1, 2008.

EARLY DEADLINE DATE: August 15, 2009 (Other deadlines: 10/1/2009, 11/15/2009. and 12/01/2009)

ENTRY FEES: Vary by short or feature and increase with each new deadline date

Go to our website -- kcjubilee.org -- for complete details, entry form, and pay fee online. You may also submit through WAB.

Check out our special CinemaJAZZ division if you have made a work (short or feature) inspired by JAZZ

Send your screener (DVD-region 1), check, entry form to: KC Jubilee, 4826 W. 77th Terrace, Prairie Village, KS 66208-4321

Kansas City FilmFest is scheduled for April 14-18, 2010 at the all digital AMC Mainstreet. Visiting filmmakers and jurors will be announced soon.

If you have any questions - call 913-649-0244 or email: kcjub@kcjubilee.org.

Even though the New Year has begun, it’s not too late to think about a few resolutions… animation and otherwise…

The Videofestival City of Imperia is open to amateurs and professionals. Registration is free. The Festival is now at its 5th edition and will take place in Imperia from April 20 to April 24, 2010. Deadline for foreign works is February 8, 2010.

551 authors from 45 nations participated to the 2009 edition. 100 films were screened.

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY:
Reserved to foreign authors. The sections are: Short films, Documentary films, Animation & Graphics films with unlimited running time. Works must be subtitled in one of the following languages: Italian, French, English. To the first selected work of every section will be awarded a prize. The subject is free.

EXPLORER CATEGORY:
Open to national and international authors. The sections are: Travel Documentary (running time max. 30 min.) and Nature Documentary (unlimited running time). Only to one work chosen by the jury will be awarded a prize.

Please visit our site www.videofestivalimperia.org for further details.

 

Renowned as Sydney¹s first beachside cinema, Flickerfest kicks off the summer cinema season outdoors under the stars at Bondi Beach, screening the best short films from Australia and the world in a unique and relaxed summer environment. After our Sydney festival Flickerfest tours to 23 venues around Australia. Our Academy ® accredited short film competition and special showcases celebrate the latest in cutting edge shorts from around the world. Welcome to our world of shorts!

Flickerfest began as a small local festival at the Balmain High School in 1991. Over the last 17 years it has grown to become Australia's only competitive International Short Film Festival with entries coming from filmmakers across the globe.

Flickerfest is considered in International circles as the leading Australian competitive short film festival and increasingly filmmakers view it as one of the main festivals on the world circuit. To maintain this high standard each year the festival director visits festivals around the world seeking new films most of which have not been seen in Australia.

In 2003 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science elected to recognise Flickererfest as a qualifying festival for the Best Short film and Best Animation categories of the Academy Awards ®

The honour of Academy Award ® accreditation will guarantee Flickerfest's international profile for many years to come, whilst also ensuring greater opportunities for our Australian short film makers internationally.

Flickerfest's national tour has become a very important part of the festival and started in 1995. The tour takes the main competitive programmes and some Special sessions to many regional and metropolitan areas, which rarely have an opportunity to view this collection of the best of the world's short films. The difference between Flickerfest and other film festivals is that Flickerfest is acknowledged as a quality arts event. Each year we screen Academy Award nominated films plus many other internationally award-winning films.

Each year the Sundance Film Festival selects 200 films for exhibition from more than 9,000 submissions. More than 50,000 people attend screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. In addition to discovering filmmaking's newest talent through the Festival's program of documentary, dramatic, and short films, Festivalgoers experience live music performances, panel discussions with leading filmmakers and industry figures, cutting-edge media installations, parties celebrating the Festival community, and more.

 

The Annie Awards will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at UCLA's Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, California. General Admission tickets are $25. Award Ceremony starts at 7:00 p.m.

ASIFA-Hollywood member VIP tickets are $150, and non-member VIP tickets are $250. (VIP tickets include: Champagne Reception at 5:00 p.m., Ceremony at 7:00 p.m. and Post Award Party immediately following the ceremony)

Click here to order tickets.

Presented by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, the 37th Annual Annie Awards will be held on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at UCLA's Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, California. The award ceremony will also be webcasted on www.annieawards.org at a later date.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archives, Library and Museum.

Anima 2010

The countdown has begun!

The next Anima, the Brussels International Animation Film Festival, will take place in Flagey from 10 to 20 February 2010

Over one hundred and fifty films in the international competition (shorts and features, commercials, music videos), retrospectives, exhibitions, lessons, workshops for the kids, the Futurama professional days, round-table discussions, numerous guests and film concerts make Brussels an international appointment not to be ignored. It's also the place to find out about Belgian animation with a national competition and screenings in panorama. Add to that a very "Animated Night" full of films, and Anima easily confirms itself a "must" for the thirty thousand spectators that flock to Flagey, the prestigious cultural centre of Belgium's capital city.

The Anima 2010 competition

Award for the best feature filmAwards for the best short filmsAward for the best graduation filmAward for the best commercialAward for the best music videoNomination for the Cartoon d'Or

Deadlines

Registration: 15 October 2009

Films received: 20 January 2010

Rules (pdf)

Entry Form (pdf)

Entry Form (doc)

For the seventh year, AWN's Rick DeMott puts together a collection of the best commercials and music videos from the past year submitted by readers.

The International Animation Film Festival will take place in Annecy (Haute-Savoie, France) from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 June 2010.

On a parallel, the Mifa will be held from Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 June 2010.

As for the Creative Focus and the conferences, they will be held from Tuesday 8 to Friday 11 June 2010.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary the Festival will be reserving you an ­exceptional programme of retrospectives, exhibitions, great names from the industry, a special screening theatre... why not come along and ­discover it all for yourselves! It is likewise the perfect occasion to take a look behind the scenes of films and their production secrets.

The Festival: the world’s top reference for animation films

The world’s largest event entirely focused on animation, the Festival (founded in 1960) is a fun and friendly way to discover the latest in animation masterpieces, meet major players and young talents, check out new trends, and find ideal business partners, all in one place.

More information

The International Animation Film Market (Mifa)

The Mifa is held side by side with the Festival. With more than 3,000m² of exhibition space, it is the animated film industry’s foremost showcase in terms of co-producing, purchasing, selling, financing and distributing animation content for all broadcasting platforms.

More information

The Creative Focus

The Creative Focus is an incubator for projetcs and a privileged exchange forum for animation professionals and the talents of tomorrow.

More information

The Conferences

They help to better anticipate changes in the sector, from artistic, business and technological points of view. For 4 days running, the Annecy conferences serve as a forum for information, reflection and exchanges, furthering an understanding of challenges and deliberating on suitable practices.

More information

The Festival in a few figures

6,700 accredited professionals from 66 different countries
1,647 companies enrolled
350 exhibitors
230 international buyers
300 journalists
239 films in the official selection
525 films screened
9 theaters for 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. viewing
1 giant outdoor screen,
120,000 tickets sold throughout the week.