Events: Non-competitive Festivals

Ray Harryhausen Presents; The PIT AND THE PENDULUM short film to screen at HORRORFIND WEEKEND 10, August 15-17, UMUC Marriott Inn & Conference Center, Adelphi, Maryland.

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM screens as part of the Saturday INdy Screenings, AUgust 16, 10:15- 12:115 AM in the Convention Ampitheatre!

Tix, info and schedules can be found on the HORRORFIND WEEKEND website: www.horrorfindweekend.com

The best way to keep you and your little monsters entertained this summer.

The Family Friendly Film Festival returns to Manchester for the third year, with an even more exciting line up of events and activities that the whole family can enjoy together.What can you do?• Spend a NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM at our Manchester Museum pyjama party

• Get out your peg legs and patches for PIRATES ARRRRGGGHHH COOL day at The Stockport Plaza (parents can dress up too!)

Comic-Con International is the largest gathering of comic book, science fiction, film and television fans in the nation. Featuring celebrity guests, seminars on breaking into filmmaking and near 24-hour film retrospectives. Comic-Con is the place for fans of all things pop culture. For more information, visit www.comic-con.org.

The 2008 MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) Art Festival will take place the weekend of June 7-8 at the historic Puck Building (293 Lafayette Street at Houston) in downtown Manhattan's famed SoHo arts district. The festival will be open to the public from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm both days. Admission starts at $10/day or $15/weekend but is only $10/weekend for MoCCA members.

The Art Institute of California-San Francisco is proud to present its second annual Animation Festival. The festival is no charge and open to the public. This entertaining hour-long program showcases the school's best animated works by students, alumni and faculty. This year's festival will feature the world premiere of short films by the first graduating class of the Master of Fine Arts in Computer Animation program. Time: 7-8 p.m. Location: Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California, 94102, USA.

Sundance Institute and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) today announced the third annual Sundance Institute at BAM program: 22 feature films and 36 live-action and animated short films fresh from the 2008 Sundance Film Festival; filmmaker Q&A sessions, theatre and musical performances, panel discussions, screenplay readings, art installations and more. This unique event celebrates the artists and work which the Sundance Institute supports year round through its Film Festival and the Feature Film, Documentary Film, Theatre and Film Music Programs.

Design Festa started in 1994, and is a freestyle International Art Event open to artists from all over the world to exhibit their creative talent. Design Festa is the biggest art event in Asia! The event features a wide diversity of creative work, including painting, sculpture, fashion and installations, as well as multimedia, film-screening, live music, and performance art. Design Festa is held twice a year in spring and fall at Tokyo Big Sight.

Animate! 08 -- Segunda Edicion -- is the oldest animation film festival in Uruguay. This year it is the second edition of "Centro Cultural de España" in Montevideo, in its third year. The works accepted to this festival will be exhibited at the Cinema Auditorium of the Centro Cultural de Espana, sponsored by Animation Campus and Centro Cultural de Espana del Uruguay.

The festival has its focus in short adult animations of any kind, no matter the technique. This is a non competitive festival, and there are no fees for submission.

Big Island Film Festival takes place at Waikoloa Beach Resort on the Big Island of Hawai'i. One indoor venue and two under the stars, as well as filmmaker panels, awards and social events, great weather, beautiful beaches and outstanding resorts of Waikoloa Beach make this a very special location for a film festival. Submit narrative films only -- no documentaries -- by Feb. 1, 2008. For more information, visit www.bigislandfilmfestival.com.

The New Strand Film Festival, held in an historic downtown theater, will feature three days of independent films, with Sunday highlighting children's films. This small Iowa festival offers independent filmmakers the opportunity to get involved with their audiences without the hassles of larger festivals. For further information, visit www.newstrandfilmfestival.org or email jmcmahon@wlpl.org.

For the first time, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will include "The Comix Strip," an entire section of the popular event dedicated to showcasing comics, graphic novels and manga. "The Comix Strip" will feature booths from prominent comic book publishers, retailers, and distributors as well as the inimitable writers and artists who create these hip and unique works.

Comix Strip-related programming will include a special Festival panel to be hosted by LOS ANGELES TIMES pop culture writer, Geoff Boucher, entitled "Comics: Superheroes of the Page and Screen."

AniFest 08 is the seventh annual computer animation festival sponsored by the Center for Graphics Research at Western Connecticut State University. The festival includes speakers, workshops, an animation theater, a student computer animation competition, and an art exhibit. Submissions are invited for all aspects of the festival. For more information, visit the festival's website (http://cs.wcsu.edu/cgr/festival08/) or call 203-837-9353.