The National Film Board of Canada is holding an open house of their new facilities. The event gives the public a chance to meet the filmmakers and staff. The NFB will feature screenings, studio tours and receptions on Monday from 2-6 pm and on Tuesday from 10 am - 5 pm. Screening facilities will be available for visitors to screen their own work as well.

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.

Objectif Image Saint Gely presents the 15th annual Saint Gely Short Film Festival. The festival's categories are documentary, fictional-dramatic, animation and experimental. Past festival chairmen have been Jean Pierre Mocky in 1998 and Claude Pinoteau in 1999.

ASIFA San Francisco will be hosting a night of new animation and special effects. ILM's Victoria Livingston will show a company reel of features and commercials, plus her own personal film. PDI will present a reel of commercial work and personal projects by staff members. DotComix will show several of their Web shows and a short on how they do performance animation. Wild Brain will screen about 30 minutes of new material including pilots, Webisodes, TV commercials and more. The event is a free screening at the Exploratorium and the general public is invited.

The Montreal International Festival of New Cinema & New Media (FCMM) will screen 72 features, 93 shorts and 50 new media presentations in a celebration of cutting edge filmmaking. Besides the screenings the event will hold tributes and seminars including a salute to animators Mich

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.

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 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 Savannah College of Art and Design is presenting the Third Annual Savannah Film and Video Festival. The festival showcases the talents of up and coming filmmakers in every format from feature length films to shorts. The festival will offer a series of morning workshops, with evening showings of narrative, experimental, animated and feature films and videos. Industry insiders who give pointers on everything from special effects to selling a film present lectures and workshops.

The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg is conducting an evening of animation. The work of up and coming animators will be featured at this first annual festival of the animation arts. The premiere event will be held at The Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg, Illinois from 6 - 9 pm. This juried event will showcase the work of current students and recent graduates. It will include multiple showings of animation programs, exhibitions of animation-related art and multimedia presentations. Admission is free, but an RSVP is requested.