In addition to the annual Toronto short film party Darryl's Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival is traveling on to Montreal to share the warmth, the laughs and the booze. Thanks to the support of the good people at the Soci

The Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival is an annual showcase for funny and creative short films about sex. The Festival began in 2000 as a party in the humble bachelor apartment of filmmaker Darryl Gold and continues to grow every year. Filmmakers, animators, actors, writers, comedians, musicians, artists and any other reprobates (gay or straight) are welcome to submit films. For more information, visit www.hardliquorandporn.com.

Reg Hartt's screenings offer the best Hollywood cartoons & a chance to meet legends old and new. Reg has chosen more than 200 films from his archive for this summer long fest, 15 every Saturday at 7:00 pm. Jane Jacobs, the greatest thinker in today's world, says, "The best part of a Reg Hartt presentation is what he has to say." The late Judith Merril called Reg the most creative person working in film in Canada. Producers from series like THE SIMPSONS asked Reg to put them on his email list. His street posters are on the cover of THE PUNISHER 2. Emo Phillips says, "I honestly believe Reg is the greatest teacher I know." John Kricfalusi says, "I hope Reg continues to inspire young artists." Chuck Jones wrote, "Your thoughts are always close to my heart, Hartt." Grim Natwick said, "Reg reminds me of Max Fleischer and Walt Disney. Friz Freleng called Reg the finest host he ever met. Shamus Culhane called Reg the most important person working in animation in the world. There is a beer store across the street from The Cineforum (the living room of Reg's house). Crack a brew with Reg. You will be glad you did. See Bugs Bunny & his pals with all their parts. You will be amazed how much we missed as kids.

The highlight of this week's summer long celebration of Hollywood Animation, ANIMAFEASTIVAL is BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN (1943) Directed by Shamus Culhane. It is banned today from public presentation. I am offering a rare, original Technicolor print. The film is a SWING SYMPHONY. Here is what Shamus Culhane had to say about it in his book: "For example, in BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN we related the colors of the backgrounds to the structure of the music. The picture was basically painted in cold colors, until there was a riff in the music. When that happened I cut, in sync, to a scene painted with vivid orange, red or yellow. After the riff I cut back to a series of scenes with cold colors, then repeating this process on the following riff. "Some years after BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN was released, I came upon an article in S. I. Hayakawa's magazine, ETC., a periodical devoted to semantics. The writer analyzed in scholarly terms our use of color to interpret music in the film. Our experiment did not go unnoticed."--Shamus Culhane, TALKING ANIMALS pg. 255. This is just one of the over 1,000 titles in my archive.

Zack Schwartz, who designed this film was a veteran of The Warner, Disney, Screen Gems and UPA Animation Studios. I met him when he taught animation history locally. He told me about this cartoon. Zack had based the design of his film on ancient art. Willougby's magic hat is woven from the hair Delilah snipped from Samson's head. While the design of the film was more than 5,000 years old critics hailed it as a breakthrough in modern design. This film led directly to the birth of UPA. After Zack told me his story I worked on tracking down a print. I found several but they were soft focus with poor sound. Then one day I got a sparkling original print. You will understand, seeing it, why people were so excited with it. This is just one of the fifteen titles that will be on view in this week's program.

Stop-motion icon Ray Harryhausen will appear in Montreal for the inaugural fps Animation Innovators lecture. Fans will first be treated to a screening of Jason and the Argonauts, and then hear Mr. Harryhausen speak about his impressive career. Excerpts from his early work will also be screened. Held in conjunction with the Fantasia Film Festival, North America's largest cult film festival, Mr. Harryhausen will also be receiving the first Fantasia lifetime achievement award. Tickets available July 5th through all Admission networks. $9.00 each

The Glitch Fest, is comprised of short films of three to 10 minutes in length and in all categories: French or English, from Quebec or elsewhere, be they parodies, fake publicities, dramas, horror films, press reports, animations,

Ai-Kon is Manitoba

The goal of the Montreal World Film Festival (Montreal International Film Festival) is to encourage cultural diversity and understanding between nations, to foster the cinema of all continents by stimulating the development of quality cinema, to promote filmmakers and innovative works, to discover and encourage new talents, and to promote meetings between cinema professionals from around the world.

The World Film Festival - Montreal 2005 will include the following sections: World Competition, First Films World Competition, Hors Concours (World Greats, out-of competition), Focus on World Cinema (Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania), Documentaries of the World, Tributes, Cinema Under the Stars and Canadian Student Film Festival. The event also contains seminars, workshops and a film market.

The new animated short by Oscar-nominated director Chris Hinton is in the official competition, as well as three other animated shorts from the NFB in the World Greats category. As part of our continued partnership with the festival, the NFB will once again present the Norman McLaren Award in the Canadian Student Film Festival.

For more information, visit www.ffm-montreal.org.

This fall, fps and ACM SIGGRAPH Montreal are proud to present stop-motion animator and director Mike Johnson, who has worked on Hollywood feature films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and is the animation co-director of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Mr. Johnson is the second guest to appear as part of the fpsAnimation Innovator series of presentations. Mr. Johnson will discuss his experience in animation and the making of this film, as well as display puppets from the actual production. The presentation will be followed by a signing. This event will include the screening of the award-winning short, The Devil Went Down To Georgia. When:6:30 p.m. Where: Concordia University, Hall Alumni Auditorium, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec Cost: $15 Tickets for the evening show are available through Admission Network online, at an outlet, or by phone: Montreal: (514) 790-1245 Canada: 1-800-361-4595 USA: 1-800-678-5440