May 24, 2007 - SIGGRAPH 2007 announced record submissions for this year's Computer Animation Festival taking place at the 34th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Aug. 5-9 2007 in San Diego, California.

The Computer Animation Festival jury selected from a record 905 submissions for exemplary use of computer-generated imagery and animation, and compelling storytelling. With show categories ranging from animation to research, this year's submissions originate from countries across the globe, including the France, Germany, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, the U.K. and New Zealand. Also, for the first time in the history of SIGGRAPH, two of the award-winning films are student entries. SIGGRAPH 2007 also marks the first time filmmakers were able to submit high-definition video to the selection jury, which greatly increased the jury's ability to appreciate the intricacy of each film -- especially the award winners. A total of 134 submissions were accepted.

"I'm thrilled with the jury's selections. With the record number of submissions, our material truly represents the best of the best in all of the show categories," stated Paul Debevec, SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival chair from the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies. "This year's show weaves together amazing visuals from numerous disciplines into a single mind-altering experience."

SIGGRAPH's location on the West Coast, closer to the large animation studios, makes 2007 a notable year for studio-produced shorts with Pixar's LIFTED, Blue Sky's NO TIME FOR NUTS and Blur Studio's A GENTLEMEN'S DUEL lending heavy-hitting strength to the Electronic Theater show.

"The Electronic Theater also presents a watershed year for fluid simulation in feature films. Scanline's 300'S LIQUID BATTLEFIELD, Sony Pictures Animation's SURF'S UP and Digital Domain and Industrial Light & Magic's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN all feature uniquely executed but beautifully believable digital oceans and waves," added Debevec. The Electronic Theater will also provide an early peek at Sony Pictures Imageworks' much anticipated photoreal computer graphics feature BEOWULF.

SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival highlights as selected by Paul Debevec include:

ARK (Best of Show)
Grzegorz Jonkajtys and Marcin Kobylecki, www.thearkfilm.com, Poland
An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population. Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land untouched by the deadly virus. So begins the exodus, led by one man...

DREAMMAKER (Jury Honors)
Leszek Plichta, Institute of Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Post Production, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany
In the past, this talented dreammaker created the most beautiful dreams for people. Now, he lives in solitude focused on only one purpose - the creation of a special dream - his dream...

EN TUS BRAZOS (Award of Excellence)
François-Xavier Goby, Edouard Jouret, Matthieu Landour, Supinfocom Valenciennes, France
A remarkable tale of the greatest tango dancer of the 1920's who finds himself confined to a wheelchair after an unfortunate accident. Thanks to his loving wife, he recovers the use of his legs just in time for the most magical dance of his life.

LIFTED
Gary Rydstrom, Director, Pixar Animation Studios
A bumbling young alien student from a distant world tests the patience of an increasingly weary instructor as he attempts a first-time abduction of an innocently slumbering farmer in LIFTED, the comical latest short film from Pixar Animation Studios.

A GENTLEMEN'S DUEL
Francisco Ruiz & Sean McNally, Directors, Blur Studio
In A GENTLEMEN'S DUEL, a new short film presented by Oscar-Nominated Blur Studio, this time-honored tradition is re-imagined with a fantastic blend of boisterous characters and over-the-top comedic action. A seemingly innocent tea party takes a turn for the dramatic when two imperious aristocrats suddenly find themselves competing for the affections of the same fair lady.

TRAVELERS: SNOWBALL
Dan Lemmon, Weta Digital Ltd., New Zealand
TRAVELERS: SNOWBALL begins with a man walking down a steep street in San Francisco. He crashes through a yard sale, before tumbling head-over-heels down the hill. As the man continues to roll he creates a "snowball effect," accumulating objects from the street to create an enormous ball of urban debris.

A VFX JOURNEY THROUGH PAN'S LABYRINTH WITH CAFEFX
CafeFX
When the harsh world of the Spanish Civil War becomes too horrific to bear in director Guillermo del Toro's visually rich and complex PAN'S LABYRINTH, young Ofelia escapes inward, finding in her imagination the power to heal her real-world wounds. Challenged to create the mythical creatures and landscapes of Ofelia's fantasy, CafeFX embarked on an artistic and technical journey spanning four months of location shooting and five months of post-production.

The Electronic Theater lineup consists of:

* 300'S LIQUID BATTLEFIELD
Germany
Stephan Trojansky, Danielle Plantec
Scanline VFX

* ARK
BEST OF SHOW
Poland
Marcin Kobylecki, Grzegorz Jonkajtys, Producers

* BEOWULF
U.S.
Jerome Chen, Jacqui Lopez, Sean Phillips, Kenn McDonald, Skye Lyons
Sony Pictures Imageworks

* BURNING SAFARI
France
Eric Riewer
Gobelins, l'école de l'image

* CAPTURING AND ANIMATING SKIN DEFORMATION
U.S.
Jessica K. Hodgins
Carnegie Mellon University

* CHILDREN OF MEN
U.K.
Tim Webber, VFX Supervisor
Framestore CFC

* DREAMMAKER
JURY HONORS
Germany
Leszek Plichta
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

* EN TUS BRAZOS
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
France
François-Xavier Goby, Edouard Jouret, Matthieu Landour, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* Equilibrio
U.S.
Tomas Salles, Director
New York University

* FORMATION OF A SPIRAL GALAXY
Japan
The Four-Dimensional Digital Universe Project
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Game Technology 2007

* A GENTLEMEN'S DUEL
U.S.
Blur Studio

* HAPPINESS FACTORY
U.S.
Todd Mueller & Kylie Matulick, Directors
PSYOP Inc.

* HIGH FASHION IN EQUATIONS
Switzerland
Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann
MIRALab, University of Geneva

* HP HANDS "PAULO COELHO"
U.S.
Rich Silverstein & Steve Simpson, Creative Directors
Motion Theory

* INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC 2007
U.S.
Miles Perkins, Brent Bowers, Greg Grusby
Industrial Light & Magic

* THE ITCH
U.K.
Anargyros Sarafopoulos
Bournemouth University

* LIFTED
U.S.
Gary Rydstrom, Director
Pixar Animation Studios

* NO TIME FOR NUTS
U.S.
Chris Renaud & Michael Thurmeier, Directors
Blue Sky Studios

* NVIDIA REAL-TIME GRAPHICS RESEARCH: THE GEFORCE 8 DEMO SUITE
U.S.
NVIDIA DemoTeam
NVIDIA Corp.

* OPENING AND TITLE ANIMATIONS
U.S.
Florian Witzel
florianwitzel.com

* PORTAL
U.S.
Doug Lombardi
Valve Corp.

* RAYMOND
U.K.
Fabrice le Nezet, Jules Janaud, François Roisin
The Mill

* THE RECENT FUTURE ROBOT: HELPER Z
Japan
Katsuyuki Suzuki

* SEARS TOOLS "ABORETUM"
U.S.
Sabrina Elizondo
Method Studios

* SIGGRAPH 2007 PAPERS REVIEW
U.S.
Jim Blinn, Michael Cohen, David Thiel, Producers
Microsoft Research

* SPIDER-MAN 3: VFX HIGHLIGHTS
U.S.
Sony Pictures Imageworks

* STORM
U.S.
Erik Nash & Bryan Grill, Visual Effects Supervisors
Digital Domain Inc.

* SURF'S UP: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MAKING WAVES
U.S.
Rob Bredow
Sony Pictures Imageworks

* SWIRL
U.K.
Lee Griggs

* TRAVELERS: SNOWBALL
New Zealand
Dan Lemmon, Visual FX Supervisor
Weta Digital Ltd.

* U2 AND GREEN DAY "THE SAINTS ARE COMING"
U.S.
Benjamin Looram
Sway Studio

* A VFX JOURNEY THROUGH PAN'S LABYRINTH WITH CAFEFX
U.S.
Everett Burrell, Visual Effects Supervisor
CafeFX Inc.

* VIGORSOL: THE LEGEND
U.K.
Ben Dawkins, Director
The Moving Picture Co.

* WORLD TRADE CENTER
U.K.
Michael Ellis, VFX Supervisor
Double Negative


The Animation Theaters lineup consists of:

* 13 WAYS TO DIE AT HOME
U.S.
Lee Lanier
BeezleBug Bit Llc.

* 27 STORMS: ARLENE TO ZETA
U.S.
Gregory W. Shirah
Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

* 300
Australia
Kirsty Millar, Visual Effects Supervisor