The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has announced the recipients of its 4th annual Interactive Achievement Awards. The Awards were presented at a gala event held in San Jose at Polly Esther’s on March 22. DIABLO II (PC), developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, garnered three awards, including the top honor of overall Game of the Year 2001 and Computer Game of the Year.

On March 25, 2001 in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the winners for this year's Oscars. Taking home the prize for outstanding animated short was Michael Dudok de Wit's lyrically elegant FATHER & DAUGHTER. The big winner for the evening was the visual effects epic GLADIATOR, which received five Oscars for best picture, best actor Russell Crowe, best visual effects, best costume design and best sound. Oscar was also kind to the other big visual effects film of the year CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Leading the toon nominees is CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG with five nominations including three in the voice acting category. Receiving nods for Outstanding Children's Animated Program were ARTHUR, CLIFFORD, DRAGON TALES, MADELINE and THE WILD THORNBERRYS. Nominated for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program were ANGELA ANACONDA, BATMAN BEYOND, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND, ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPER CHRONICLES and SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE 22ND CENTURY.

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has announced its nominees for the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Over 100 senior AIAS members in specialty groups chose the finalists. As part of the awards gala, John Carmack, founder of id Software, will be inducted into the Academy's Hall of Fame. Carmack is the creator of DOOM and QUAKE, which popularized the first-person shooter genre of gaming. Comedian Martin Lewis will host the ceremony on March 22, 2001 in San Jose, California.

The Tampere International Short Film Festival awarded its winners on Sunday, March 11, 2001. The prestigious special prize of the jury went to the Brothers Quay for their film IN ABSENTIA (U.K.). The prize for the best animation was given to Helene Moinerie for the film D'UNE CITÉ L'AUTRE (France). The Grand Prix of the festival went to the Finnish documentary HYPPÄÄJÄ by PV Lehtinen. Twenty films out of 69 in the competition were animations, somewhat less than usual.

The 20th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival - Festival du dessin animé et du film d'animation – handed out its top European awards. There were prizes only for national films, because the international official selection is non-competitive. Because Brussels is the capital of Belgium, a country with two separate language-based communities, there are, of course, two national Grand Prixs.

In its first pre-Oscar ceremony, the Orange British Film Academy Awards were handed out on Sunday, February 25, 2001. Michael Dudok de Wit's lyrical ode to a girl's love for her father over the passing of time, FATHER & DAUGHTER, took home the prize for best animated short. For best British film, Aardman Animations/DreamWorks' CHICKEN RUN was defeated by the live-action ballet picture, BILLY ELLIOT. Visual flare was a big winner in the U.K.

The U.S. Recording Academy handed out its Grammy awards, giving two statuettes to TOY STORY II. The first went to "Woody's Roundup Featuring The Riders In The Sky" for outstanding musical album for children. The second went to Randy Newman's tune "When She Loved Me" for outstanding song written for a motion picture, television or other visual media.

Mainly an international showcase for live-action films, the Berlin Film Festival awarded the "Ours d'Or" award for best short film to Martine Chartrand's animated short L'AME NOIRE (BLACK SOUL). The film was produced by the National Film Board of Canada and tells the story of African people's migration through the Caribbean to America. The Berlin International Film Festival was founded in 1951 from an American cultural-political initiative and has become one of the foremost film festivals in the world.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has announced their nominations for the coveted Oscar award. Receiving nominations for best animated short were Michael Dudok de Wit's lyrically elegant FATHER & DAUGHTER, Steffen and Annette Schaffler's moody puppet film THE PERIWIG-MAKER and Don Hertzfeldt's humorously chaotic short REJECTED. GLADIATOR, HOLLOW MAN and THE PERFECT STORM all received nods for best visual effects. Surprisingly absent from the F/X nomination list was Disney's $150 million-plus budgeted DINOSAUR.

The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival has announced its winners. Michael Dudok De Wit's FATHER & DAUGHTER took home the award for best international animated film. Receiving the prize for best French animated short was Florence Miailhe's AU PREMIER DIMANCHE D' AOÛT. AtomFilms sponsored both of the animated short categories. The jury was comprised of Wasis Diop, Qu-Dok Hwang, Cédric Kahn and world-renowned director of AT THE ENDS OF THE WORLD Konstantin Bronzit. Over 136 films were in official competition from over 50 countries.

The British Academy of Film & Television Artists have announced the nominations for the 2001 Orange British Academy Film Awards. Visual spectacle ruled the list with GLADIATOR and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON receiving 14 nominations each. Both films garnered nominations in the outstanding film, screenplay, music and visual effects categories. Joining the Roman romp and romantic fantasy for best special effects are THE PERFECT STORM, VERTICAL LIMIT and CHICKEN RUN.

Alias|Wavefront's Maya won the "Best of Show" award at Macworld 2001, awarded by MacWeek.com. While Alias|Wavefront originally announced that it would be porting Maya to Mac OS X in May of 2000, Macworld San Francisco marked the company's first public demonstration of Maya on the Mac: both at the Alias|Wavefront booth and during Apple CEO, Steve Jobs' keynote address. "All in all Macworld was an astounding show for us," says Director of Maya Technolgoies, Richard Kerris. "Apple has been very supportive throughout our development process.

Nickelodeon has announced the nominations for its 14th Annual Kids' Choice Awards. Receiving nods for Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie were Mel Gibson (CHICKEN RUN), Kevin Kline (THE ROAD TO EL DORADO), Susan Sarandon (RUGRATS IN PARIS) and David Spade (THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE). Vying for Favorite Cartoon are Nick's HEY ARNOLD!, Cartoon Network's THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, Nick's RUGRATS and Fox's THE SIMPSONS. Best movie nods went to effects heavy flicks CHARLIE'S ANGELS, THE GRINCH and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS along with live-action comedy BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE.

Visual spectacle was the top winner at this year's Golden Globe awards. DreamWorks' GLADIATOR took home the award for Best Drama and Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard took home the Best Original Score prize for their work on the Roman epic. The global sensation CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON racked up statuettes for Best Foreign Language Film and director Ang Lee took home an award for his direction. CHICKEN RUN couldn't repeat TOY STORY 2's win for Best Comedy or Muscial losing out to the rock 'n roll ode, ALMOST FAMOUS.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the short list of films being considered for the Visual Effects Oscar. The seven films chosen were CAST AWAY, DINOSAUR, DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, GLADIATOR, HOLLOW MAN, THE PERFECT STORM and X-MEN. Fifteen-minute clip reels from each of the seven films will be screened for the Visual Effects Award Nominating Committee on February 7. The members will then pick three of the seven films for nominations. Those nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 13, at 5:30 am.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the recipients of awards for scientific and technical achievement for the year 2000. The Scientific and Technical Academy Awards will be presented on Saturday evening, March 3, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. An Oscar statuette will be among 17 Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievement to be presented during the ceremony.

The U.S. Recording Academy's premiere recording awards, the Grammys, have put out their list of nominees and several nods have gone to tunes from cartoons. Competing in the Best Musical Album For Children category are "More Songs From Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins and "Woody's Roundup Featuring Riders In The Sky" by Riders In The Sky. The FANTASIA/2000 soundtrack received a nod for Outstanding Compilation Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.

The Havana Film Festival, Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, is traditionally the major cinema event in Latin America, and is still one of the major events in the region in spite of the growing problems to organize it. The number of films, audience members and guests is very impressive. The latest 22nd edition was held from December 5 - 15, 2000. The ten-day event focused on feature films, but also included a separate competition for Latin American animation. The selection is comprehensive, but not too big, however the films are not always new.

The Golden Globe Awards, given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press, have always been kind to animated features. And this year is no exception. DreamWorks/Aardman's CHICKEN RUN has garnered itself a nomination for best musical or comedy. It competes against the live-action films ALMOST FAMOUS, BEST IN SHOW, CHOCOLAT and O' BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Last year, TOY STORY 2 took home the same prize. Disney's THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE made an appearance in the very Disneyfied category of best original song for "My Funny Friend and Me." F/X films received nods in several categories also.