CSU Animation and Visual Effects present the fifth Australian International Animation Festival 2008. This year they have secured amazing exclusives from more than 2,200 submissions from 30 countries.

The international programs will give audiences a complete, up-to-date snapshot of the international creative animation scene. In addition are programs that focus on digital animating, puppet films and Australian-made films. There will be kids, high school aged-programs, and even a "Late Night Bizarre: program for those whose tastes are on the extreme. There will also be a series of free talks and workshops given by filmmakers from all over Australia to provide a chance to learn more about how and why these films get made. Door-prizes include Adobe, Autodesk, Wacom and HP products.

Venue: Forum 6 Cinema
Cost: $10 Single Session or $30 Full Festival Pass

Friday May 16 schedule: High School/Teen Program, International Program #1, International Puppet Animation Panorama, Launch Party

Saturday May 17 schedule: Kids Program, Seminar: Animation Now! International Animation Overview, Seminar: The State Of Australian Animation, Australian Panorama, International Program #2, Late Night Bizarre

Sunday May 18 schedule: Seminar: "Voice Wrangling," Seminar: D.I.Y. Art + D.I.Y. Funding 2.0, International Program #3, Digital Panorama, After Party.

The Australian Cinematheque at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane is presenting an extensive screening series of Visual Music. This series (mostly on film) began in late March with Disney's Silly Symphonies programs, and continues through June 1, 2008. Programs include Oskar Fischinger, Jordan Belson, Norman McLaren, Len Lye, Mary Ellen Bute, Baerbel Neubauer, early Visual Music pioneers, Stan Brakhage and more, plus the premiere of a new CVM traveling program, Rare Classics: Essential Visual Music. A program of new visual music work curated by Joost Rekveld - Soundfields from the Netherlands - screens June 1. Center for Visual Music provides a number of programs for this series: May 2 - Mary Ellen Bute (presented in association with Cecile Starr and Women's Independent Film Exchange) May 3 - Jordan Belson: Films Sacred and Profane May 4 - Rare Classics (new program of rare and preserved films from CVM) May 25 - Oskar Fischinger: Optical Poetry May 31 - Time and Tides: Music Paintings by Baerbel Neubauer

SA Short animation awards reward excellence and outstanding achievement in the South Australian digital media community.

Entries open for the SA Short Animation Awards:
Jury Prize $200
Audience Prize $200
SALUD Virtual built Environment Prize $200
MRC Best Emerging Animator Prize $200
IDrawFast Architectural Animation Prize $100

Sponsored by: The University of Adelaide, Autodesk, CGSociety, IDrawfast, DLF, Hamilton Adult Campus and MRC

SUBMISSIONS:
Part 1 -- Construct a 30 sec commercial for your animation movie - due by June 1, 2008.
Part 2 -- Submit your (max length 3.5 min) animation movie by June 10, 2008.
Competition Entry Fee: $10
Deadline for all entries: Monday June 10, 2008.

The judges’ picks will be screened at the "Best-Of the Awards" public screening on Thursday June 19, 2008 at the Flentje Theatre, Architecture building University of Adelaide before the Awards Presentations.

The Flentje Theatre is located in the Architecture Building at North Terrace Campus of the University of Adelaide.
Tickets may be purchased at the Theatre door for the event: $10 and $9 concession. Further information contact: Dean Bruton, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design +61 (0) 8 83034038 or 0414 88 2074.

RSVP for seat bookings are due by June 18, 2008 to: dean.bruton@adelaide.edu.au

An international competition now in its 12th year, the AEAF Awards attract entries from around the world. The awards give recognition and reward excellence and creativity in 10 categories of competition: Commercials Animation Commercials VFX Titles, Idents & Stings Short Film Student Music Video TV Series Flash Animation Feature Films, Animation Feature Films, VFX Two-time Oscar nominee (Animation Director on STAR WARS: EPISODE II -- ATTACK OF THE CLONES and EPISODE III -- THE PHANTOM MENACE) Rob Coleman will head the international panel of judges. Previous winners of the AEAF Awards are among the world's premier post-production companies, effects houses and film studios. Past winners include: Animal Logic, ILM, Beeps, Complete Post, Digital Pictures, Fuel, Iloura, Rising Sun Pictures, Fin Design & Effects, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Passion Pictures, The Mill, Box Communications, John Rowe Animation, Framestore CFC, Nectarine, Bigfish Design, Pixar Animation Studios, Students from AFTRS, QUT and VCA. If you have created an animated work during 2007-2008 and would like your work viewed by your peers in the vfx community, including many international artists from the world's top studios, enter in the AEAF Awards. Fill out the entry form and send it to with your entry by October 1, 2008. All nominated entries will be screened at the AEAF Awards night on November 12, 2008 Chauvel Cinema Sydney. Winning entries receive the specially commissioned AEAF Award and, most importantly, exposure through a screening of the entries at the AEAF, press coverage including the AEAF Showcase issue of Digital Media World Magazine and the recognition of the VFX community. Go to www.digitalmedia.com.au/node/880 to enter online or download an entry form. The Digital Media Festival including AEAF will take place November 11-13, 2008, Chauvel Cinema Sydney Australia. Program details will be updated regularly at digitalmedia.com.au. The festival invites digital artists from around the world to share their experience and creative processes with an enthusiastic audience during the festival, 11-13 November 2008 in Sydney. If you have work, knowledge and expertise to contribute, contact the festival director at info@digitalmedia.com.au.

The first films that will screen in this year's festival have been revealed, presenting a diverse selection of titles that will screen in Australia for the first time. Amongst those in the official competition are animated features CORALINE, BRENDAN AND THE SECRET OF KELLS and SUNSHINE BARRY AND THE DISCO WORMS. Information: www.sydneyfilmfestival.org.

CSU School of Visual and Performing Arts is proud to announce that one of the true legends of the modern creative animation scene, Chris Landreth, is coming to Australia and heading to Wagga Wagga. This exclusive opportunity to meet the Oscar-winning director and see his work firsthand will simply leave anyone with the merest appreciation of the moving image astounded.

An Evening with Chris Landreth
Date: Monday, June 29
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Forum 6 Cinema
Cost: $10
Oscar-winning director Chris Landreth personally presents his newest film, THE SPINE. Also features special screening of THE END, BINGO and RYAN with introductions and Q&A.

Chris Landreth Lecture: Psychologically-Driven Animation
Date: Tuesday, June 30
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Charles Sturt University, Building 014, Room 209
(Download the CSU Wagga Campus map here: http://www.csu.edu.au/about/maps/pdfs/csu-wagga.pdf)
Cost: Free

Expanded seminar presentation going beyond the films and providing an invaluable insight to the world of computer graphics. This presentation is a preview of Landreth’s highly anticipated keynote at SIGGRAPH2009: http://www.siggraph.org/s2009/sessions/featured_speakers/

Important: The screening and lecture may contain mature content not suitable for children.

Oscar winning animation director Chris Landreth is one of the true legends of the contemporary creative animation scene. Landreth has been at the absolute forefront of computer animation development for a decade. His films -- THE END, BINGO and RYAN -- represented groundbreaking leaps in pushing technology to its limits to show the breadth of what animation was capable of depicting on the screen. Landreth was nominated for an Academy Award for THE END, with RYAN winning the Oscar for Best Short Animation in 2005. This seminar presentation will go beyond Landreth's films and provide insight into his successful marriage of creativity and technology. Landreth will talk about "Psychorealism", the use of art and animation to depict the realism of one's emotional and spiritual state. He explores the "Uncanny Valley" (the "creepy" effect experienced when CGI characters are too realistic, leading to a feeling of revulsion in the viewer) and how his latest film THE SPINE attempts to avoid this problem. He also shows how his animators used a Method-acting approach to nick subtle gestures, ticks, and micro-expressions in their characters' faces and bodies, and explains how his crew balanced realism and stylization to create characters who are Uncanny in a positive way. Landreth's talk will be followed by a Q&A. University of Technology, Sydney Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, 3rd Floor, Lecture Theatre 322 702 - 730 Harris Street ( next to the ABC) Cost : Free 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Details: http://www.dab.uts.edu.au/ Transport UTS is only ten minutes walk from Central Station, Eddy Avenue and Railway Square bus stops. Parking is available for those with a disability or special need to drive: Peter Johnson Building, Basement Car Park, 702-730 Harris St. Ultimo.

Now in our 7th year, CSU Animation and Visual Effects are proud to present the Australian International Animation Festival 2010. The internationally renowned event has gone from strength to strength since its modest start in 2004 and this year has secured amazing exclusives from more than 2,200 submissions from over 40 countries. The range of styles, genres and techniques is testament to the vibrancy and relevance of creative animation and the premiere screening of this highly acclaimed collection is happening right here in Wagga Wagga!

The International Competition programs are made up of an eclectic mix of films and will give audiences a complete, up-to-date snapshot of the international creative animation scene. In addition to these there are programs that focus on digital animating, stop motion, and Australian made films. Rounding out the line-up are programs for younger audiences and even a “Late Night Bizarre” program for those whose tastes lurch to the truly odd and unfathomable.

A series of free talks and workshops given by filmmakers from Australia and overseas will provide those with questioning minds a chance to learn more about how and why these films get made. Buy a Full Festival Pass and you’ll save over 60%, guarantee seating, be in the running for unbelievable prizes, see bonus films, network with key people, be invited to the after-party which includes complimentary food & drinks, and then some...

Door-prizes include full commercial versions of Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Mudbox worth over $7,000 in professional creative software!

Venue: Forum 6 Cinema
Date: Friday 14th – Sunday 16th May 2010
Cost: $12 Single Session or $35 Full Festival Pass
Only $5 for Kids Program

AIAF2010 Schedule

Friday 14th May
5:30pm - Doors Open
6:00pm - Official Opening & International Program #1
8:00pm - SIGGRAPH Wrap-Up

Saturday 15th May
2:00pm - Kids Screening (4-7 years old)
4:00pm - Animation 101 “Adventures In Ancient Animation”
5:00pm - Animation 102 “Blending Animation & Live Action”
6:00pm - Australian Panorama
8:00pm - International Program #2
9:30pm - Late Night Bizarre

Sunday 16th May
2:00pm - Kids Screening (4-7 years old) [Repeat]
4:00pm - Animation 103 “Lucy Izzard (UK) & Slinky Pics”
5:30pm - Animation 104 “Adobe CS5 in Action”
6:00pm - International Program #3
7:30pm - Digital Panorama

Important:
Please be aware that admission is restricted to 18+ (except for Kids & Official Opening /International Program #1). Film classification regulations in Australia require all films to either be formally classified or restricted to an audience of 18 years of age and over. Most festivals do not have the resources to do this and it for this reason alone that we are not able to admit any person under the age of 18 years to the main AIAF screenings.

Kids Program – Specifically programmed towards 4 – 7 year olds whilst still entertaining more mature patrons, this screening gives children the world’s best animation for a just $5! Pricing includes adults.

The workshops are free for anyone to attend but may contain mature content.

The 30th Flanders International Film Festival has introduced a new policy to encourage quality film distribution in Benelux. Money attached to the festival

The Independent Arts Festival offers space to exhibit, show and perform any form of creativity especially those in the independent scene. The event is focused to up and coming young artists who have never exhibited their art before. The festival also invites international, independent and professional artists to share their artwork. The motto of the event is: "Art is not boring." The festival also wants to give attention to the comic and zine scene. The event will feature a reading corner where visitors will be able to read comics and zines, and give comic artists and zine publishers the possibility to come and show or sell their products. For more information visit www.sztuka-fabryka.be/festival/.