The Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences will present the 2005 Machinima Film Festival, a full-day of Machinima (animated filmmaking using 3D videogame technologies), taking place at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. The one-day event will include screenings of Machinima films, special presentations, talks with award-winning independent filmmakers and seminars about Machinima production techniques. For more information, visit festival.machinima.org.

The American Animation Institute's summer semester will run from June 2 to August 30. Registration for Animation Guild members begins May 8; registration for non-members begins May 12. The American Animation Institute was founded in 1980 by the Animation Guild and Affiliated Optical Electronic and Graphic Arts, Local 839 IATSE, to further the art of the animated cartoon in the United States through educational and other activities. Classes are held at the Animation Guild in North Hollywood, CA on weekdays and weekday evenings plus one weekend class, one session per week for twelve weeks. The full catalog is available here. Instructors for the summer semester include Steve Brown, Nicole Duet, Karl Gnass and Will Weston. Classes offered include Storyboarding, Composition for Animation and Film, Life Drawing, Advanced Life Drawing, Animal Drawing at the Los Angeles Zoo and Page Museum, Head and Figure Painting, Painting the Still Life and Figure Drawing From Top To Bottom. Contact Lyn Mantta by e-mail or at 818-766-0521 if you have any questions.

BrainCamp is the only high-level, cross-media conference specifically geared to major players in children's entertainment. BrainCamp is a chance to relax with peers and explore all sides of our industry, gather ideas, and recharge your batteries. BraincCamp attracts senior executives, creative forces and movers and shakers in the kids' and family entertainment industry. There are eight presentations over two days, along with food, fun and social events. The atmosphere is loose and relaxed, no suits, no ties. BrainCamp is an intimate event; attendance is limited. There are no "panels," there is no stage separating speakers from attendees. Speakers and attendees interact during presentations, during breaks and during social events. For more information, visit www.braincamp.com.

Design Festa is a biannual international art event, started in 1994. It is open to all artists from all over the world to exhibit their creative talent freely. 7,000 artists working in a variety of mediums will be present, turning the two day event into artistic chaos. There will be booth areas(2,600 booths), an outdoor live-show stage, an indoor stage, a mini-theater space and a restaurant and cafe/bar area, all for your enjoyment during these two days filled with art, energy, excitement and discovery.

Created in 1998, Forum Brasil is Latin America's leading TV programming trade show. Representatives from more than 20 countries use the forum as a marketplace to find great products, share experiences, get new information, analyze local markets, and engage in profitable business networking. Forum Brazil features: * International seminar with top-tier names in programming and production * 30-minute sessions with channel executives from Brazil and other countries detailing their acquisition policies * Pitching of animation, documentary, series and feature projects * Screenings of programs and pilots via a fully automated system * Great networking, acquisitions, co-production and distribution opportunities Broadcasters, pay-TV channels, distributors and independent producers from Brazil, other Latin American countries, the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe have made Forum Brasil a regular fixture of their business schedule. For additional information, visit www.forumbrasiltv.com.br.

The DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan Present BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY on Friday October 24, 2008 at 6:30pm as part of the Anime/Live Action Series based upon Manga (Japanese Comics).

In Karakura Town, there has been a sudden outbreak of unidentifiable spirits called "blanks" (vacant souls) while in the skies of Soul Society, the real world has been reflected. A mysterious female shinigami called Senna has appeared before Ichigo along with a man named Ganryu, leading a group called the "Dark Ones."

The screening will be held at the Japanese Information and Culture Center, Embasy of Japan located at Lafayette Center III 1155 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20036-3308. Seating for the screening of BLEACH THE MOVIE is limited and attendees are encouraged to RSVP by sending an e-mail to jiccrsvpfall08@embjapan.org.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information visit the Japanese Information and Culture Center website at http://www.us.embjapan.go.jp/jicc/ or visit the DC Anime Club website at http://dcanimeclub.org.

Asia

Now in its third year, the Mexico International Film Festival is committed to bringing the best independent cinema from around the world to Mexico in an effort to maintain and enrich the country’s film culture. The festival is held in the serene and beautiful town of Rosarito, situated on the Baja coast, where the sun shines all year with cooling sea breezes, glorious clear skies, and the crystal azure Pacific as a backdrop.

Animatu is an animation festival dedicated to digital. The festival holds an international Short competition, with some categories open only for Portuguese schools, Workshops and talks will also be held, among other activities. There are no entry fees. Categories: 3D/2D digital, Machinima, Motion Graphics and Mobile Phone Animation.

III ASTERFEST 2007

We have the pleasure to inform You that we are approaching the final stage of the preparations for the new, third edition of our new festival in the Macedonian country, as well as in the region and beyond, dedicated to the professional film (documentary and fiction) culture and emphasizing its affirmation, popularization and valorization towards the audience.
It is about the initiative for AsterFest, film and video festival, focusing on documentary, fiction (features or shorts) works of film authors who are coming from or living in Western Balkan region, neighbor countries and other related meridians.
We invited and receive films from several productions which submitted film-s for our forthcoming festival. It may be long or short-length film. We will present it into the programs: ASTERDOCS, BALKANS FICTION, NEuCOMERS, DOMA, HOMMAGES - focused on authors from southeastern European, EU countries and abroad.
We plan that the third edition of AsterFest 2007 will officially take place in the period 28-31 May on several locations in the Macedonian town of Strumica, where several other cultural areas will be renewed, related to the climate, ancient values and constant spiritual wideness, which have provided existence to this town for more then two millenniums. The concept is the projections to take place in an ambient, outdoor (in correlation with the summer sch