ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL DEDICATED TO UNIVERSAL THEME OF FAMILIES.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Attention filmmakers: If your documentary, feature, animation or script expresses your artistic vision and could still qualify for a PG-13 rating, the Santa Clarita International Film Festival could be your forum.

Organizers bill the festival as the only one in the world to spotlight entertainment with a family theme. Rules state that entries must not include ``gratuitous sex or violence, frontal nudity or obscene profanity.''

``There was a group of people . . . in the (entertainment) industry who said that family films fit the Santa Clarita Valley, and this is the perfect place to promote them,'' said Patte Dee, program director.

The third annual festival seems to be in sync with recent government initiatives concerning the entertainment industry, such as President Clinton's support of increased children's television programming, a TV ratings system and V-chip installation that allows parents to control which programs their youngsters watch.

The festival, Dee said, ``is a way of focusing family values internationally.'' It was born of ``a firm belief that families, all around the world, have the same values and the same tragedies and the same happinesses,'' she said.

``The judges will automatically veto anything with obscene language,'' noted Dee, a costume designer who runs a production company with her husband, Mitch Matovich. ``This (rule) does not negate using tragedy or violence or death, but we don't have to see the wound or the blood,'' she said.

Participants compete for artistic exposure rather than prize money. Still, there are perks: The winner of the best screenplay receives automatic representation with a Beverly Hills literary agent, and the outstanding student filmmaker is awarded a ``mentorship'' with the Producers Guild of America, Dee said.

The submission deadline for entries is Nov. 15 for student films and Nov. 1 for all others. The weeklong event begins Feb. 7 in the Edwards Cinemas at the Valencia Town Center, and films from all over the world are expected to be shown. In the past two years, entries came from Australia, China, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa and the Ukraine.

Last year, the festival screened 38 films from the United States and six foreign countries. A student filmmaker award was added to the competition, and a recent graduate student from Loyola Marymount University took home that prize.

``This year, we've added a category of documentary which includes both a short and feature length,'' Dee said.

Another aim of the festival is to call attention to the films and television shows that have been filmed in the Santa Clarita Valley since the early 1900s.

Executive director Chris Shoemaker has estimated that half of the permits issued by the Los Angeles County film permit office are for filming in this valley. ``Melrose Place'' is perhaps the best-known TV show that films in Santa Clarita.

The weeklong celebration also includes an opening-night gala, the reading of scenes from 10 script entries and tours of local film production studios.

``It's fun to go on the sets and see things that you wouldn't normally see,'' Dee said.

Seminars will focus on animation and how to write and produce family films, Dee said.

In its first two years, festival participants included ``Leave It to Beaver'' star Jerry Mathers moderating a panel on youth in film, a tribute to Warner Bros. ``Looney Tunes'' animator Fritz Freleng, and the presentation of lifetime achievement awards to Hanna-Barbera namesake Joseph Barbera and producer-director Stanley Kramer.

Entry forms are available by calling the film festival hotline at [phone] or by faxing a request to [phone].