The Ottawa 00 International Animation Festival has completed this year's pre-selection for the official competition. Once again, the festival set a record for entries, receiving 1,300 films from over 50 countries. To ease the pressure on the selection committee, this year's selection was divided into two committees. Festival organizers Chris Robinson and Hayden Mindell judged the Independent Film Competition (graduate films, first professional films, independent short works under 50 min. and films for children). Leading the list of 47 films selected were 12 Canadian films. Festival director, Chris Robinson, was pleased by the high quality of Canadian entries. He said: "This is a good time for Canadian animation and it's not just the National Film Board (NFB) producing outstanding work. We saw remarkable films from independent animators and students in Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver and even Ottawa. But without doubt, this is the year of the NFB. From older films like "When the Day Breaks" to the new work from Paul Driessen and the dark, astonishing film by Michele Cournoyer ("The Hat"), this body of films shows that in this time of privatization and globalization, state supported culture is alive, fruitful and a necessary component in maintaining those quiet but vibrant indigenous voices." A selection committee comprised of Chris Landreth (director of "Bingo," Canada), Pjotr Sapegin (Norway), Ryan Larkin (Oscar nominated director of "Walking," Canada) and Andrei Svislotksi (sequence director, "Rugrats," Russia) viewed the commissioned films competition entries. The commissioned competition includes work by Bill Plympton, Marv Newland, Peter Chung, Jonas Odell, Will Vinton Studios, Cuppa Coffee Animation, Aardman Animation, the Bolex Brothers and JJ Sedelmaier. For a complete list of competitors, please visit the Ottawa 00 website. The competition will take place September 19-24, 2000 with the awards ceremony being held on Sunday, September 24. The festival's international jury, which will determine the final winners, includes: Priit Parn (Estonia), Suzanne Gervais (Canada), Wendy Jackson (USA), John Hays (USA) and Jin Guo Ping (China).
