William Kentridge was born in Johannesburg in 1955. His animated films, or 'drawings for projection', explore personal and social conflicts in the context of both apartheid and post-apartheid landscapes, using mainly pastel and charcoal drawings on paper, which he changes and sets in motion by rubbing out and drawing over things. Originally a fine art painter, draughtsman and engraver, Kentridge turned his attention to animation in the late 1980s through his increasing interest in time; its passing, the traces it leaves, the memory that events, beings and objects leave when we close our eyes on the past. What technique besides frame-by-frame animation could better render an account of this phenomenon? 'All of my work is about Johannesburg in one form or another.thematically I suppose I work with what's in the air, which is to say a mixture of personal questions and the broader social questions. Questions this year, questions last year, responsibility, retribution, recrimination, before issues of what histories are hidden in the landscape. Often they're fairly broad questions but generally they arrive through quite a personal or particular starting point.' Interview with William Kentridge

The Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF 04) is a celebration of the very best of international and Australian animation showcasing the work of artists and filmmakers who have discovered that in this medium they can go anywhere their imagination leads them. The festival will also travel to Sydney as the Australian International Animation Festival (formerly Sydney International Animation Festival) in July. The event will take place at the Australian Centre for The Moving Image (ACMI) at Federation Square in the heart of the city. One of the retrospectives will highlight the career of John K, creator of REN & STIMPY, who got his animation start working on THE SMURFS. For more information, visit www.miaf.net.

The Flickerfest International Short Film Festival is a celebration of short cinema. The event is open to any production available for screening on 35mm or 16mm. All films must be under 30 minutes and must have been completed within 2 years of the closing date. Films must be in English or have English subtitles. Due to the competitive nature of the festival, it favors Sydney premieres and films that have not been broadcast in Australia. An International jury will award prizes in the following categories: Best Film International Competition, Best Film Australian competition, Best Animation, Best Documentary and Best Cinematography. For more information, visit www.flickerfest.com.au.

The Digital Media Festival delivers an exhibition with the latest cutting edge tools for Animation, Visual Effect, HD/Digital Video production/Post production and Digital Imaging. Leading digital media technology tools from Apple, Sony, Panasonic, Adobe, Avid, Discreet and Canopus (just to name a few) will be exhibited with industry expert specialists on hand to inform and educate the industry.

Platinum Partner Apple will host the Apple Training Theatre with workshops on Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Shake and Motion. The Digital Media Partner Theatre will host a stream of free information sessions from the industry leading product vendors at the show.

There are 3 conferences held along side the exhibiton. These are the Australian Effects and Animation Festival, DVFest & Digital Imaging Festival.

The School of Multimedia Systems (Faculty of Information Technology) will be showcasing final 3rd year work of the Bachelor of Multimedia Systems in an Exhibition that will be held in the Atrium and the Edge at Federation Square Melbourne.

The dates of the Exhibition are the 22nd and 23rd of November 2004. It will be held between the hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and is open to the public.

The objective of the Exhibition is to showcase to the Public and Industry, Innovations and the high skill level of our final year students. More than 100 students will be demonstrating multimedia work in the fields of Game Development, 3D Animation, Flash Animation, Short Films, Website design, Interfaces and Programming.

The Exhibition is proudly presented by the following Sponsors-
Connecting Point
Paragon Australia
Faculty of Information Technology
Faculty of Art & Design
MUBS
Monash Berwick Campus
Multimedia Victoria

An Industry Night will be held at 6:30pm on the 23rd of November 2004 at The Edge Federation Square. For Invitations or further information to the Industry night please contact the School. 9904 7070
http://multimedia.monash.edu.au

Flash Competition 05
Faculty of Information Technology
Monash University.

This years Flash Competition is directed towards year 10 and 11 students currently enrolled in High School in the State of Victoria Australia (Students in other secondary years are also welcome to apply).

This years competition has many major prizes.

Entries close June 6th 2005

please refer to this website for more information

http://www.multimedia.monash.edu.au/

The Australian Effects & Animation Festival Melbourne program will feature some of the highest profile cinema releases of this calendar year, complemented by cutting edge Australian case studies and expert sessions in animation and visual effects. Melbourne's Act3Animation goes behind the making of its two latest 3D short films, PINATA and ANAKA, produced for Tantalus Interactive with the assistance of Film Victoria. Additionally, the event will look the new feature film VALIANT fro Vanguard. Plus, the festival will feature the MTV Oz Music Video Awards. For more information, visit www.dmw.com.au/html/aeaf.htm.

1st Reef 2 Beach Surf, Bruce Palmer Surfboards, Video Comp
Entry Deadline: 20th November 2005

Reef 2 Beach Surf want you to make a surf-related video of no more than 3 1/2 minutes duration. The video must be in DVD format and can be serious, documentary style, humour, or music video, or any other sort you like, even animation. There is no limit to the number of entries, enter as many times as you like.
First prize is a Bruce Palmer surfboard and all videos will be considered for inclusion on a DVD.

All details are online at http://www.reef2beachsurf.com

The Digital Media Festival hosts Australia

The BSIT 3rd year Exhibition 2005 is a high quality exhibition of work produced by graduating students of the Bachelor of Multimedia Systems. The Exhibition will be open to the Multimedia industry, Secondary school students and the general public.

Location
The BMW Edge at Federation Square, Melbourne.

Date & Time
Tuesday November 15th 2005, 9am-5pm (Industry Night 6.30pm-late).

Details
BSIT 3rd year Exhibition 2005 aims to:

To achieve these aims, the BSIT 3rd year Exhibition 2005 one-day program, boasts:

Approximately 80 exhibitors, displaying a range of products including 3D game engine design, 3D video, games, educational CD ROM, interactive multimedia, dynamic web applications, database programming, Flash animation and more.

The Industry Night is invite only, if you are a member of the Multimedia or Education Industry and wish to attend the night please contact Andrew Owen on 03 9903 1411 or andrew.owen@infotech.monash.edu.au.