U.S. International Film And Video Festival Call for Entries

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The U.S. International Film and Video Festivalis accepting entries for its 36th year of competition. The deadline isMarch 1, 2003. Last year's festival drew more than with 1,500 entriesfrom 33 countries.

The competition is recognized as one of the world's leading eventsfor business, television, documentary, industrial, and informationaland entertainment productions. Film, video, and interactive producersand businesses from around the world are invited to participate.

First place Gold Camera awards were presented to 82 productions in2002. Another 110 received second place Silver Screen awards. TheUnited Kingdom accounted for the most entries received from outside theU.S., followed by Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Australia.

Television station Thirteen/NET New York won Best of Festival (GrandPrix) award for the top production in 2002 for Africa: SouthernTreasures, a PBS Network broadcast in the United States.

Productions produced or released in the 18-months prior to the entrydeadline are eligible. They may be submitted on 1/2" (VHS), 3/4"(U-matic) or DVD in NTSC or PAL standards. The competition also acceptsinteractive CD-ROMs.

Entry forms that can be downloaded for fill-in and printing will areposted at www.filmfestawards.com. Lateentries are accepted after March 1, 2003, but require an additionalfee.

A multinational board of industry leaders guide the festival, andjudging takes place in multiple cities throughout the U.S. This isfollowed by a select Blue Ribbon panel review of all First Place GoldCamera and Second Place Silver Screen Awards.

The procedure involves an experienced panel of judges, which hasresulted in a consistent level of quality among the winners. Asevidence of the competition's quality, The Japan Association of AudioVisual Producers has selected 13 of the U.S. International Film andVideo Festival's Gold Camera Winners to be screened in Tokyo in January2003 as among the World's Best Corporate Films.

Among last year's Best of Festival festival nominees were theseentries from the United States: Africa: Desert Odyssey byThirteen/WNET New York; The Simpsons: Trilogy of Error by 20thCentury Fox, Los Angeles; Tina's Story by Shootz ProductionGroup, San Antonio; and Roots--Celebrating 25 Years by LeonardProductions, Beverly Hills.

International nominees for top honors included: Her Own Wayby Dockhouse Film & TV, Goteburg, Sweden; Frankenphone byShooting Pictures Ltd., London, UK; Swamp Tigers by HITWildlife, London, UK; The Last Just Man by Barna-AlperProductions, Toronto, Canada; and Handtintyng Photography by CiaDe Imagem, Fortaleza, Brazil.

Further information and entry forms for the 2003 film competitioncan be obtained from the Festival Headquarters: 713 S. Pacific CoastHwy, Suite A, Redondo Beach, Calif. 90277-4233 USA, Phone: (310)540-0959, Fax: (310) 316-8905, or by e-mail:filmfestinfo@filmfestawards.com.