FILM FESTIVAL ENTRIES ARRIVE FROM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.Byline: Daily NewsSANTA CLARITA - The number of films and screenplays submitted to next month's 9th annual International Family Film Festival in Santa Clarita are up by 40 percent over past years. Entries are coming from all over the world, and the works are superior to those in past festivals sponsored by the local group, organizers said. The festival is scheduled for April 25-May 1 at the Edwards Theatres in Valencia and at other nearby venues. ``Overall, the quality and diversity of our independent and student-produced films is way up this year,'' said Chris Shoemaker, the festival's executive director. ``It has raised the bar.'' And entries are coming in from all over, said Patte Dee, film programmer. ``Finally, countries have submitted films that we have been courting for years,'' she said. ``We are delighted to have our first submissions from Mexico and be the home of their U.S. premiere.'' Some of the first-time countries represented at the 2003 festival are Iceland, Cambodia, Scotland, Mexico and Germany. Other countries represented in the festival are Japan, England, Canada and Australia. The films will be shown at the local gala and again at the Garden State International Family Film Festival, Sept. 19-21, in Manasquan, N.J. The festival features films suitable for family viewing, minus gratuitous sex and violence. It includes related events, celebrities and a closing-night banquet, plus the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award. This year's recipient has yet to be named. One of the films from England stars Jemma Richardson and Craig Ferguson and introduces Charlotte Church in her first film role, Dee said. The student category of the film festival showcases film projects completed by students in professional film schools. A record number of short films have been submitted to the festival this year. Some of the universities submitting this year are the University of Utah The University of Utah (also The U or the U of U or the UU), located in Salt Lake City, is the flagship public research university in the state of Utah, and one of 10 institutions that make up the Utah System of Higher Education. , New York University New York University, mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the , Loyola Marymount University, the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission , Chapman University, California Institute of the Arts California Institute of the Arts known as CalArts U.S. private institution of higher learning in Valencia. Created in 1961 through the merger of two other art institutes, it was the first in the U.S. , the American Film Institute American Film Institute (AFI), nonprofit organization established in Washington, D.C., in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts to preserve and catalog American films and television, to provide work grants for new and established filmmakers, and to increase , the Art Center College of Design Art Center built its reputation as a vocational school, essentially, preparing returning GIs for work in the commercial arts fields. It has traditionally maintained a strong "real-world" focus, emphasizing craftsmanship, technique, and professionalism while somewhat de-emphasizing theory. , Brigham Young University Brigham Young University, at Provo, Utah; Latter-Day Saints; coeducational; opened as an academy in 1875 and became a university in 1903. It is noted for its law and business schools. and California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an . ``It is amazing to see the quality of these films,'' Shoemaker said. ``The editing, directing, acting is truly exciting. The family-film genre is in good hands for the future.'' Films are entered as either in short format or as feature films. The festival judges films in the categories of drama, comedy, animation, educational and documentary. In the screenplay competition, scripts are written for either short films or features and are judged in the categories of drama, comedy, animation and sci-fi/adventure. This year, the festival has added a ``What IFFF IFFF International Family Film Festival (formerly Santa Clarita International Film Festival) IFFF International Flag Football Federation ?'' kids film and screenplay competition for children ages 7-17 in the same categories. Information about the film festival is available online at www.ifffilmfest.org. |
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