The 15th Animated Cartoon Festival For Young People is a biannual event which gives young people an opportunity to discover a wide array of productions from all over the world. The festival will hold tributes, exhibitions and workshops. The official selections will be screened within several programs during the festival. An international jury will give out official prizes to the films in competition. In addition, a jury made up of 11

As part of the second Annual Week with the Masters Festival, the festival will include for the first time, an animation competition. The competition, open to independent animation artists from India and south Asia, including students, offers a Grand Prize of US$2000 in prize money and $1000 for winners in each of the competition categories. This year's 10 masters will serve as jurors for the competition, and include David Fine, Piet Kroon, Gerald Potterton, Joanna Priestley, Normand Rogers and Alison Snowden. All entries must be animated in whole or in part; live-action films may be entered if it contains a significant animation component. The festival invites works completed after August 1, 1998, produced by citizens or residents of India and the countries of Southeast Asia, with an English soundtrack or with English subtitles. Competition categories include: independent productions up to and including 10 minutes in length; independent productions more than 10 minutes and up to and including 30 minutes in length; and student productions up to and including 30 minutes in length. Week with the Masters Animation Celebration is organized by Toonz Animation India Pvt. Ltd.

The Third BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards highlights the best in interactive entertainment. This year there will be 21 categories, including two special awards: best UH developer and the Berners-Lee award for best personal contribution to the U.K. industry. The 2000 awards will feature 10 new categories. The categories include: interactive arts, enhancement of linear media, news, factual, children's, learning, on-line learning, entertainment Web site, lifestyle and leisure, sports, games-mobile or networked, games-PC, games-console, interactivity, interface design, moving images, music, sound and technical innovation.

The San Luis Obispo Festival and its George Sidney Independent Film Competition showcases art in independent filmmaking. The competition features categories for features, documentaries, animation and shorts (films less than 60 minutes). An award of US$500 is given in each category for first place, and second and third place winners receive an award of merit.

The sixth annual Toronto Digital Image Festival (TDIF) celebrates works in 3D animation, compositing and experimental technique. Toronto artists already involved include Marcus Moore (HOVERBOY) and Rick Dolishny (JUNGLE LOVE). TDIF's special guest will be Phil McNally, creator of the award-winning cult short PUMP-ACTION MAN. The event will feature workshops and seminars run by industry insiders.

The CMJ FilmFest coincides with the CMJ Music Marathon and MusicFest and highlights the synergy between the moving image and music. The film festival showcases independent films that creatively and effectively use music in film. Awards are given to best feature or documentary, best short and best use of music in film. The event is sponsored and organized by the ChangeMusic Network.

The 43rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film helps shed light on two overlooked areas of film production -- animation and documentaries. The festival has become known for featuring many hybrid films called "animadocs." Besides the competition, the event holds special programs and retrospectives. Gold and Silver Dove prizes, with cash awards, will be handed out.

The Melbourne International Student Animation Festival (MISAF) is being organized by the Melbourne Animation Posse in partnership with Cinemedia specifically to showcase the best of student animation from around the world. A jury will select the films to go forward into the competition screenings. Tapes of all films (including those not selected for competition screenings) will be available on request to festival-goers who wish to view them on a monitor in the festival lounge. All MISAF screenings are from tape rather than film print. All selected films will receive a certificate. Additionally they are also eligible for "Best of Programme" and "Best of Festival" awards. All submission tapes will be retained by MISAF as part of an on-going archival resource for Australian animators.

The International EMMA Awards recognizes excellence in digital media content creation. Organized by the EMMA Foundation, the awards has the following categories: Business: Advertising and Marketing; Business: Commerce; Business: External Communication; Business: Internal Communication; Business: Training; Digital City; Education: 12-16 Years Old; Education: 16-Adult; Education: 4-11 Years Old; Entertainment: Children's On-line; Entertainment: Family; Entertainment: Family On-line; Games: Action/Simulation; Games: Simulation; Games: Strategy; Arts & Culture; Information & Reference; Interactive Publications; Leisure, Science & Technology; CD/On-line Integration; On-line Education/Home Learning; Gold Award for Excellence; plus new categories for Student Web Sites and Interactive TV. In connection with the awards, the EMMA Foundation offers a Masterclass in New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Hamburg and London. EMMA Foundation members receive a profile entry into the on-line directory; opportunity to submit press releases for distribution to the international press; opportunity to submit news items for display on the site News page; discount on entries into the EMMA awards; feedback from the jury on entry submissions; and priority booking for the EMMA Masterclass programme.

Screenplay Deadline: August 20, 2000.

Student Film & Children Film Deadline: September 9, 2000. The Burbank International Children's Film Festival (BICFF) gives independent filmmakers a chance to showcase their work made for children. The festival's goal is to give independent filmmakers, animators, writers and young artists a prime location to support and acknowledge excellence in children's film and media from around the globe. On the opening night, the festival will feature a screenwriter showcase and give out their lifetime achievement award. Throughout the event, BICFF will host panels discussing topics like screenwriting, producing, financing, digital technology, directing and child actors. The categories include: films intended for children's audience up to 12 years of age, films produced by children for children under age 18, films created by students in an accredited film school, digital media for children's audience up to 12 years of age and screenplays.