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Ottawa Animation Fest Entry Deadline Approaching

Animators have just a few more days to get their applications in to North America's biggest animation festival.

Thousands of animators, students and studio executives will flock to the Canada's capital from October 14-18 to take part in the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). It's a five-day whirlwind of screenings, presentations, parties and the Television Animation Conference (Oct. 14 and 15).

Every year, the best animation from around the world is screened in competition and retrospectives. More than 2,000 entries are received annually, but only approximately 100 will make the cut. Animators are invited to submit their recent work in six major categories including Independent Short films, Feature films, New Media, Commissioned films (TV series, commercials, music videos etc), Student films and Work Made for Children.

All entries for this year's competition must be received by June 1. The deadline for preview DVDs is June 15. There is no entry fee.

Last year's event had a total attendance of over 25,000 with 1700 industry pass-holders. This year's Festival promises to be bigger, better and, well, more animated.

The 2009 Festival celebrates the 70th anniversary of the National Film Board. It also features retrospectives of Oscar nominee Don Hertzfeldt's darkly humourous shorts, Suzan Pitt's surrealist animated films and the experimental works of Stan VanDerBeek. Animation from la belle province takes centre stage, and the spotlight also shines on the works of German studio Film Bilder and animator Jim Blashfield . The festival takes a closer look at contemporary Queer animation and Honorary President Otto Alder finds another 7 reasons to love animation.

For more information about this year's Festival, as well as the online entry form, check out the OIAF website at www.animationfestival.ca. Questions about submitting a film may be sent to entries@animationfestival.ca or made by telephone at 613-232-8769.