The Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee and FilmFestKC have agreed to combine their festivals into a single film extravaganza called Kansas City FilmFest. The new festival will be held in April each year, combining the programming strengths of each group. The joint venture will continue the Jubilee's strong focus on local and regional work as well as FilmFestKC's screenings of international feature films. To accomplish this, the Jubilee, now in its 13th year, will act as the governing / presenting organization. Several FilmFestKC board members were elected to the KC Jubilee board last week. The two organizations had collaborated on programs in the past so there were already some connections and a strong partnership. The unified festival will provide an opportunity to expand program offerings and increase the visibility of the event regionally and nationally. With the rich offerings of this combined effort, Kansas City FilmFest will be on par with major film festivals in St. Louis, Dallas, and Chicago. The Crosscut: Women Making Movies Symposium and CinemaJAZZ programs of the Jubilee will continue along with FilmFestKC's youth program, Reel Spirit Kansas City FilmFest will be a juried festival, with films submitted in competition and judged by visiting filmmakers. The call for entries is now open for shorts and features from anywhere in the world. Go to www.kcjubilee.org for guidelines and forms. There is a student division for full-time Missouri or Kansas students (and for students from Missouri or Kansas who attend school elsewhere). Invitations to visiting filmmakers are being made with announcements about whom will be attending due soon. Ten short films from the 2008 Jubilee were targeted for purchase by Shorts International, the largest distributor of short film in the world. Kansas City FilmFest will be seeking to provide a similar connection between filmmakers and buyers in 2009. Contact Fred Andrews at 913-649-0244 or kcjub@kcjubilee.org.