The Roy W. Dean grants are now taking applications for documentaries, shorts and Indie features under $500,000. We want films that are unique and make a contribution to society.

The Roy W. Dean Video and Editing Grants are closing soon, NYC grant 5/30/08 Go Edit Editing 5/30/08 and the LA film and LA video close 6/30/08. These are goods and services and awards run from $25 to $40,000. Full info & applications
On www.fromtheheartproductions.com

On Friday, 7 April, at the access Cinema Viewing Sessions in Drogheda, Mary Cloake, Director of the Arts Council, launched the report, Digital cinema in Ireland (1.47 MB, Adobe PDF), which was commissioned by the Cultural Cinema Consortium.

The Cultural Cinema Consortium is a strategic partnership between the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board. The consortium has supported and developed a national infrastructure for cultural cinema in Ireland with the roll out of two major capital funding programmes, which have been instrumental in improving and enhancing the cinematic experience for audiences throughout the country. Light House Cinema, Smithfield, a four-screen cultural cinema, is the first of the major capital projects, supported by the consortium, to come on stream and will open in Smithfield, Dublin, on Friday, 9 May.

The Cultural Cinema Consortium commissioned Digital Cinema in Ireland, by Ron Inglis, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the digital cinema environment and to inform policy development in this area into the future. The report details the technological advancements in the distribution and exhibition of film and it outlines a number of options for the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board to consider in order to provide new opportunities for audiences of cultural cinema in Ireland.

The 48th International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Zlín, Czech Republic from June 1 to June 8, 2008 is looking for Jury members.

Please send your nomination before April 16, 2008 to access CINEMA / info@accesscinema.ie Please also forward a high definition photo and short bio.

access CINEMA can only accept nomination forms handed in by federations. No forms sent by individual film society people will be accepted. Please consider the following points if you wish to hand in a nomination:

The nominated person must arrive on the opening day of the festival and must stay until the morning after the closing ceremony.

The nominating federation is responsible to find a replacing person in case that the originally nominated person cancels.

Only federations which have paid their membership fees up to 2007 are entitled to nominate jury members. In each jury one invitation is reserved for the delegate from the corresponding national federation(s). Therefore the federation(s) in the country in which the festival takes place must nominate a jury member in due time.

For your nominations please return forms to access CINEMA / info@accesscinema.ie

FICC JURIES 200848th International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Zlín, Czech Republic
Dates of the Festival: June 1 to June 8, 2008.(short film and documentary competitions)Renowned international festival focusing on films for children and young adults.
Languages: Czech and English- FICC Jury with 3 members /one (1) of them Slovak and two (2) from other European countries/ (not the same jury members as before)
Arrival of jury members (2008): 1st June. Departure of jury members: June 8th.
Invitation covers bed & breakfast and 3 meals per day.
The festival offers full travel expenses for all jury members but the tickets have to be arranged through the festival. Please add your travel plans to the nomination form under "remarks".
The jury member should also send CV and photo to the festival
Information about the Festival: Festival website: http://www.zlinfest.cz/
For more information please contact access CINEMA on info@accesscinema.ie

Last year Sundance invited six influential independent filmmakers to think big for the smallest screens. Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (Little Miss Sunshine), Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way), Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow), Maria Maggenti (Pucinni for Beginners), and Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut) took up the challenge and crafted original short films specifically for mobile phone delivery.

With the two-inch screen and international audiences front-of-mind, these filmmakers created a collection of shorts that premiered at the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona last year. A year later the films have made their way to every continent, popping up everywhere from Hong Kong to Helsinki.

From flying dogs http://www.sundance.org/globalshorts/index.asp?film=film4 to dancing cowboys, my personal favorite, http://www.sundance.org/globalshorts/index.asp?film=film5 , these five independent shorts are yours for the viewing from those good folks at Sundance. Enjoy! http://www.sundance.org/globalshorts/