The Chicago International Children's Films Festival (CICFF) is the largest competitive festival for children's films and videos in North America. The festival programs over 200 live-action and animated features and shorts made for children 3-13 years old. The objective is to recognize high artistic achievement in the area of children's entertainment. CICFF's goal is to nurture a positive image of children. The event is sponsored by Facets Multi-Media Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to programming and distributing international film, video and theatre. For more information contact CICFF at:

ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles area-based branch of the International Animated Film Society, honors the best in film, television and Internet animation with their Annie awards. This year, voice actors Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche will be reprising their roles as hosts of the ceremony. The event takes place at the famed Alex Theater.

visions2000 celebrates everything that makes up animated theatre. Promoted by the University of Brighton, the festival features performances, film screenings, exhibitions and workshops for both adults and children. The festival tours to various locations around the U.K. including Birmingham, Bracknell, Ludlow, Oxford, Portsmouth, Walsall, Walton on Thames, Jersey and Kent. Brighton will also host a multi-media exhibition of U.K. animated pop promos and puppetry. "Puppets in Pop" showcases contemporary animated icons such as Flat Eric, the legendary dancing milk carton from Blur's award winning video "Coffee + TV" and Supergrass' "Pumping on your Stereo" video. The event will also feature designs, storyboards, stills, show reels and soundscapes from companies such as Henson's Creature Shop, Hammer & Tongs and Skint Records. Other exhibitions include Rutter & Bennett's larger than life Circus sculptures and Manic Mechanics by Johnny White. Other visions events include: "Talking Puppets in Pop," a talk leading animators from the music industry; "Blunderbus Tour," a children's theatre company that takes puppetry to hospital wards, schools and play groups; and "Future visions," a day for venue promoters featuring companies using innovative puppetry techniques or taking animated theatre to new audiences in new locations.

The I Catelli Animati Festival highlights animation in all its forms from commercials to features films. The international competition features the following prizes: grand prize "I Castelli Animati," special jury prize, best debut short film, best European short film, audience prize, the Fabrizio Bellocchino prize and best non-narrative short film. The Italian competition will give a grand prize and special jury prize to the top Italian productions. New to this year's event is the International competition for animated Web sites. Castelli will feature retrospectives on Wendy Tilby, Paul Driessen, Konstantin Bronzit and Jan Pinkava. Composer Julian Nott, scorer for the WALLACE & GROMIT films, will be the guest of honor.

Read Animation World Magazine's "A Report from the I Castelli Animati, the International Festival of Animation" by Andy Klein to find out more about past I Castelli Animati festivals.

TOKYOPOP.com has extended their first AnimeOnline Festival until September. Animation artists working in the anime style are invited to submit their original anime Internet works in Flash, Shockwave or Quicktime formats. There are five categories in which participants may enter: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Fighting (Battle), Love/Comedy, Shoujo (Girl's Anime) and Asia Pop Focus (Open Category). Participants may enter into more than one category and may even have more than one submission within a category. Cash prizes will be awarded including a US$10,000 grand prize for best overall work. Submissions will be judged by a panel of experts from the fields of entertainment, the Internet, technology and culture, as well as by an audience vote. From September 1-15, 2000, Finalist entries will be posted on TOKYOPOP.com for viewing, voting and judging. All entrants will receive free membership to TOKYOPOP.com. Through AnimeOnline Festival 2000, TOKYOPOP.com wants to showcase the Asian pop culture phenomenon by combining the finest in traditional anime style with the latest tools for entertainment delivery on the Internet.

The Matita Film Festival (MFF) is a festival consisting of two competitive sections open to authors from all over the globe, plus various historical and monographic retrospectives. MFF's goal is to highlight the independent spirit, while not neglecting entertainment issues. MFF 2000 will feature various retrospectives including Yuri Norstein, Animation Made in the U.K. and Phil Mulloy. Moreover, MFF holds a strong interest in the productions of animated film schools from all over the world. Every year "Focus On" explores a different school and this year it will be CalArts. The prize awarded to the best film in competition for each category is ITL 4,000,000 (2,000 EUROS approx.). The cultural association "Ex Novo" also provides several educational activities related to animated film. The event will have meetings, seminars and workshops, directed by known professionals.

The Ottawa International Animation Festival is one of the premiere festivals in the animation community. The festival offers three competitions: independent film/video, commissioned works and Internet animation. The independent competition includes categories: Independent Film/Video Under 50 Minutes, Films for Children, Graduate Film and First Film. In the commissioned competition the entries can be educational, industrial or scientific films, commercials, station/program ids, music videos, TV specials and TV series. This year Flash entries can be submitted via the festival's Web site by providing the film's URL. During pre-selection Ottawa's committee will visit each of the sites, view the films and make their selections for competition. In the competition, Ottawa will have two prizes: a Grand Prize for Best Internet Animation (selected by the International Jury) and a Public Prize for Best Internet Animation. Computers will be set up during the festival to afford attendees the opportunity to view the films and vote for their choices. People will be able to log onto the Ottawa Festival Web site from home and vote for their favorite films as well. Retrospectives include: From Scratch, A Look Into The Parameters of Film; Computer Animation in the 21st Century; Jazz in Animation; PDI: 20th Anniversary; Bermuda Shorts: Ten Years After; Yvonne Andersen; Tribute to Spike & Mike Fest; Suzanne Gervais; Paul Fierlinger; Pjotr Sapegin; Jan Lenica; George Pal; Gene Deitch; and Chinese Animation.

The 3rd Annual Golden Marble Awards will honor excellence in children's advertising. Judges include: Alice Germanetti, Sr. Partner Creative Director Ogilvy & Mather; John Barry, Creative Director J. Walter Thompson; Joe Bacal, Co-Chairman & Creative Director Griffin Bacal; Dave Shea, Sr. VP Creative Director Saatchi & Saatchi; Chris McKee, Chief Creative Officer The Geppetto Group and Doug Zarkin, VP GWhiz Youth Marketing. The Golden Marble Awards will be presented at a lunch ceremony as part of a 2-day conference on breakthrough marketing to kids entitled "Advertising to Kids." The television commercial product categories are Best Electronic/Video Game Commercial, Best Doll Commercial, Best Action Figure Commercial, Best Game Commercial, Best Creative Play Commercial, Best Toy Commercial-General, Best Breakfast Food Commercial, Best Snack Food Commercial, Best Beverage Commercial, Best Food Commercial-General, Best Clothing/Apparel/Accessories Commercial, Best Non-Food Packaged Good Commercial, Best Commercial for a Television Program, Home Video or Movie, Best Commercial for a Television Network or Programming Block and Best Entertainment Venue Commercial. Other awards include Best Cinema Advertising, Best On-line Advertising, Best Animation Company (Cel), Best Animation Company (SFX), Best Commercial Directed to Parents of Preschoolers, Best Overall Campaign and Best Public Service Advertising.

The Edinburgh Multimedia and Animation Festival (EMAF) is set to coincide with the International Arts Festival which sees over 300,000 visitors. The event includes the participation of artists, companies, studios and universities worldwide. EMAF will feature conferences and workshops about the many technical advances in the animation and multimedia industry. Recruiters will be on hand for students and animators to meet. The festival is being sponsored by Digital Design Research Centre.

The Chicago Underground Film Festival is designed to showcase the defiantly independent filmmaker. The festival's mission is to promote films and videos that dissent radically in form, technique or content from the "indie" mainstream presenting works that challenge and transcend commercial expectations. The festival will award cash prizes to films and videos selected by the jury as best in these categories: Feature, Short, Documentary, Animation, Experimental, Audience Choice and "made in Chicago." The Chicago Underground Film Fund has been established to provide completion funds for films that are in keeping with the festival's defiantly independent and deliberately scandalous spirit. Recipients are awarded grants of US$500-$2,000 in cash and services. The festival screening committee will select the films and videos. Notification of entries making the festival will be before July 1, 2000. Screening dates and times will be announced by July 15.