The Newport Beach Film Festival will spotlight films from around the world including features, shorts, documentaries and animation that will compete for a series of awards including the Jury Award, Audience Award and Director's Award. In addition to film screenings, the festival will host several premiere galas, an industry seminar series, yacht parties and question and answer sessions with filmmakers. This year the festival will screen Shoji Kawamori's ESCAFLOWNE THE MOVIE: A GIRL IN GAIA, which follows the adventures of a young high-school student who travels to a strange world in a struggle over a legendary suit of dragon armor. The film will be presented in Japanese with English subtitles, courtesy of Bandai Entertainment.

The Inaugural Durango Film Festival is a new festival dedicated to showcasing independent film work in various mediums. The festival will feature several receptions, screenings and educational events. Winners will be determined by the festival's jury. The mission of this new festival is to entertain and educate the community, and to encourage and empower artists, through a competitive showcase of diverse and provocative independent feature films, documentaries, shorts and new media works.

The Santa Clarita International Film Festival is dedicated to promoting socially responsible films and screenplays that are suitable for general audiences and express a fundamental respect for the positive values of life. The categories include animation, mixed media and student work. The individual film categories are feature film, telefilm, short feature, short telefilm or student short. The event features screenings, panel discussions and seminars.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has moved their awards to before the American Academy's Oscar ceremony. The British Academy offers a short animated film award. To be eligible the films must be completed between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2000. Films to be completed after the October 31 deadline must contact Katie Hart at the Academy to set up a submission date.

The Rochester Institute of Technology will be screening its film and video MFA theses. The February screening will be held on campus at the newly revamped Webb Auditorium at 7 pm. The other date's time and location is yet to be announced.

The Texas Film Festival is the largest student-run festival in the U.S. The festival focuses on the artistic and educational aspects of film and video and welcomes works by students and novices, as well as more well-known filmmakers. The event offers addresses and informal workshops with the artists. Some of the past guests have included Spike Lee, Oliver Stone and Robert Rodriguez.

The Second Annual International Festival of Time-Based Media is being presented by the University of Southern California School of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the Santa Monica Museum of Art. The festival will take place on both the USC Campus, Los Angeles and at the SMMoA, Santa Monica. Art In Motion is organized around a central theme, and the only criteria for submission is that works be "time-based." This year's theme is "The Vanishing Author?" an exploration of the changing view of whom is "The Author" of modern artwork. Entries may address the festival theme directly or indirectly. If, for example, you are an "Author," or your work is made collaboratively, employs sampling and appropriation and/or is available for others to sample, then it is addressing the theme. A jury will view all selected works and award, among others the US$1000 Intelefilm Award for Creative Excellence. The Art in Motion II jurors are Tom Leeser, Visual Effects Supervisor/Art Director at Rhythm & Hues; Janice Tanaka, a video collage artist; and T. Kim Trang, an internationally-acclaimed video artist and independent curator of digital media.

The Phoenix Film Festival is a celebration of the movie image. The event features many screenings, seminars, tributes and answer and question discussions.

The New York International Children's Film Festival is one of the top showcases of new film for young people. The competitive fest screens 50 new works, shorts and features, plus retrospectives to an audience of 12,000 ages 3-18, parents, filmmakers and media execs. The event also features workshops, panels, presentations and a special section for teen/young adults. Awards will be determined by audience ballot and by audience age grouping.

The Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival's goal is to highlight the work of talented burgeoning filmmakers. This year's event will feature a tribute to Canadian animation studio, International Rocketship. Three-days of the festival will be devoted to animation, including an intensive animation workshop. Over 130 features and shorts in narrative, animation, documentary and experimental will be screened at the 10-day festival.