The Arizona State University Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival highlights the best in short subjects. The festival is an annual outdoor film and video festival to celebrate the artistic and creative endeavors of people with different visions and levels of experience. The event is free to enter and no paperwork is needed. The screening of the films will take place at the museum, with the exact date announced later in the year. For more information visit asuartmuseum.asu.edu/filmfest/.

The ninth edition of the Malibu International Film Festival returns to Malibu, April 4-6, 2008. Consistent with its prominence as a premiere festival, this year's festival is honored to screen 29 films from around the world. Special events include the opening night films; opening night party; networking breakfast; centerpiece film; awards presentation; and awards night party hosted by Taverna Tony's. PodComics Studio is working with David Katz and the Malibu Film Festival to produce original animated works for the 2008 festival. PodComics founders Patrick Davidson and Eric LeVasseur will also be at the festival all three days. Attendees can stop by their booth where they will be handing out free t-shirts and DVDs of their animated properties, such as the popular TRAVELING GRINGOS. Visit www.malibufilmfestival.com for more information on the festival.

The Vail Film Festival, with presenting sponsor BEST LIFE magazine, announced the complete line-up of films selected to be screened at the 2008 Festival, taking place April 3 - 6, 2008 at America's top-rated ski resort in Vail, Colorado. The Festival will screen 83 films from around the world, including 16 feature films and 66 documentaries, short films, Oscar shorts, action sports, student, and animated films. The 2008 Festival also will feature the two winning short films from the brand new Red Vision Film Contest. The 2008 Vail Film Festival opens on Thursday, April 3 with a screening of DIMINISHED CAPACITY, starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, and Virginia Madsen. This entertaining comedy follows a man (Broderick) suffering from memory loss, his Alzheimer's-impaired relative (Alda), and his high school flame (Madsen) to a memorabilia expo where the trio plans a scheme to sell a rare baseball card. MISTER FOE was selected as the closing film on Saturday, April 5. Starring Jamie Bell, Ciaran Hinds, and Claire Forlani. Hallam's talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears - and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love. Other feature film highlights at this year's festival include: FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL from director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow (director of KNOCKED UP, THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN), starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Russell Brand, THE LIVING WAKE directed by Sol Tyron and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Redford's directorial debut, THE GUITAR, starring Saffron Burrows, FIX directed by Tao Ruspoli, starring Olivia Wilde and Tao Ruspoli, and ADVENTURES OF POWER directed by Ari Gold and starring Ari Gold and Adrian Grenier. "2008 marks our fifth year, and we're very proud of the reputation the Festival has developed among filmmakers as a great place to screen and premiere their work," said Scott Cross, co-founder and co-director of the Vail Film Festival. "The submissions we receive are the best in independent film, allowing us to have an exceptionally strong program. This year, we'll screen more films than ever before, with more filmmakers in attendance to support their work. We are honored to have an incredible group of sponsors that believe in the power of film and whose contributions enhance every aspect of the Festival. Their support has enabled us to continue to grow and to create several new and exciting programs for the fifth year." The 2008 Vail Film Festival will continue its collaboration with (RED), an international initiative founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund, an innovative public-private partnership created to finance a dramatic turnaround in the fight against AIDS. (RED) and the Vail Film Festival will premiere the RED Vision Short Film Showcase at the 2008 Festival, a screening of the winning films from the RED Vision Short Film Contest. For the second year in a row, the Festival will contribute 25 percent of the sale of each Festival Avanti Pass to the Global Fund. The Vail Film Festival is also excited to announce a brand new category this year: The Esurance Animation Showcase, the Festival's first stand-alone animation program, presented by returning Supporting Sponsor Esurance. Highlights include Disney/Pixar's LIFTED; Disney's new Goofy short HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER; SHUTEYE HOTEL, from two-time Oscar nominee Bill Plympton; a new short from Aardman Animations, creators of CHICKEN RUN and WALLACE & GROMIT; a hilarious Australian-Chinese co-production about the bittersweet relationship between a dog and Chinatown; and more great animated shorts from around the world. The Esurance Animation Showcase will also feature a very special event: Pixar Animation Studio's Dylan Brown, the Supervising Animator of RATATOUILLE (winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), will give a behind-the-scenes presentation on the making of the hit film entitled "RATATOUILLE: Acting and Performance in Animation." "At Pixar, the best part of making our films is being able to share them with the world, and I can't think of a more pristine setting than Vail to do so. Plus, the skiing there is great!" said Dylan.

This year's program includes internationally recognized Governor General's Award winner Bruce Elder, and other internationally acclaimed filmmakers, through to black and white films of first-time filmmakers, to local and Canadian experimental films, to the best in dance films. Special screenings and presentations by filmmakers include films and videos of Ottawa media artist Penny McCann, Governor-General Award winner R. Bruce Elder, and Vancouver's Alex MacKenzie (whose films are presented through a homebuilt, hand-cranked projector). Events will take place at the CBC Radio Room, Empire 8 Park Lane Cinemas, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Windsor Theatre and Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, Dalhousie University. Tickets are available at AFCOOP, 5600 Sackville St., and at the door. For more information, contact AFCOOP at (902) 420-4572 or membership@afcoop.ca.

CalArts presents the third annual REDCAT International Children's Film Festival, curated by Elizabeth Shepherd and in partnership with Northwest Film Forum. This Los Angeles audience favorite offers three weekends of inspired animation, exhilarating live-action and rarely shown films. Year three includes Los Angeles filmmakers David Serota (UBUNTO), Len Simon (RIDEN THE PUFFER), and Lara Jo Egan (BIG TOP WINKLE), while introducing young audiences to the tender and visually dazzling films from the world of Swedish animation. Other highlights include THE ROBBER HOTZENPLOTZ, a film filled with fantastical adventure with the right amount of silliness, based on the legendary children's books by Otfried Preussler, and "Animated Genius: Films of Will Vinton," featuring works of the artist behind such icons of animation as the California Raisins and M&M's "Red & Yellow." This year's festival is generously supported by Virginia and Austin Beutner. REDCAT, the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, is located at the corner of W. 2nd and S. Hope Streets, inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex (631 West 2nd Street; Los Angeles, 90012). Seating is general admission. All screenings are $5. Tickets may be purchased at the REDCAT box office, located at the corner of 2nd and Hope Streets, by calling 213.237.2800, or www.redcat.org.

The second annual Florida ART Film Festival will be held at the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre. Films directed, written, or produced by Florida filmmakers will be showcased during this weekend event. For more information, visit www.acrosstown.org/filmfestival.htm.

Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH and the Vancouver International Film Centre present: SPARK VFX '08 Celebrating Innovation and Inspiration in Visual Effects January 30 - February 4, 2008 Vancity Theatre - 1181 Seymour Street Vancouver, BC www.spark.siggraph.ca Featuring a selection of 9 of the most influential visual effects (VFX) films in the history of cinema, and a series of speaker events given by film industry veterans, SPARK celebrates the history of innovation in VFX, and the films which have inspired the work of the next generation of effects artists. The films have been chosen from the "VES 50", a list of the 50 most influential and inspiring VFX films as selected by the members of the Visual Effects Society. Check out www.spark.siggraph.ca for more details on panel sessions and film times.

Projector is a four day extravaganza of lush, gorgeous, complex and eclectic elements from the world of animation and the moving image. We present a feast of screenings, masterclasses, workshops and installations to stimulate, illuminate and inspire. The entire tasty menu is laid out on our website, with a special programme to celebrate our collaboration with manipulate, Scotland's new visual theatre festival.

Children's Film Festival Seattle is part of Northwest Forum's programming for young people and families. At Northwest Film Forum, we recognize that young people and families deserve the highest quality films made specifically for them, and that the future of our organization is dependent on continually building, from the ground up, film audiences who are globally minded, intellectually curious, and critically discerning. We present a world-class international children's film festival every year, as well as year-round programming that includes award-winning features and shorts, historically important children's films, director retrospectives, documentaries from around the globe, interdisciplinary programs, and hands-on filmmaking workshops. This year visiting animation directors include: Will Vinton, "Animated Genius: Films of Will Vinton"--Saturday, 2/2 Jeanne McKinney, "City of Gold"--Saturday, 1/26 Maniwa Arisawa, "Bunny Bowling"--Sunday, 1/27 A detailed schedule of the festival at http://www.nwfilmforum.org/childrensfilmfest/schedule.htm. The Northwest Film Forum will also be holding an "Animation Masterclass with Will Vinton" on Sunday, February 3rd, 12 - 3pm. More information can be found at http://www.nwfilmforum.org/wiggly/workshops.php. A call for entries for the 2009 Children's Film Festival will be posted here shortly: http://www.nwfilmforum.org/childrensfilmfest/submit.htm. Event sponsored by Plexipixel.

The goal of the Animateka festival is to show every year the animation production from Central and East European countries in the only competition programme of the festival.Every year the international jury choose the best film with the award going to the director. An Audience Award and Best Student Film Award, as well as five jury mentions are given away. Beside the competition programme, there is a strong international film programme with historical and personal retrospectives, focuses on national productions, presentations of schools and other festivals, as well as fiction,documentary, experimental short film screenings. A comics exhibition and an audio-visual concert are also organized. The main idea behind the festival is to make it a place where invited authors, producers, journalists, other audiovisual professionals and the public meet and exchange their ideas and experiences through debates, workshops and informal meetings. There are no entry fees, but there is a technical request of 35mm or Beta SP film formats for the films screened at the festival.

Animateka International Animation Film Festival
Kinodvor
Kolodvorska 13
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia