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
Animal Logic

* 49
Japan
Ichiro Iwano, Director
Iwano Design

* 8848
France
Maelys Faget, Kévin Franczuk, Grégory Jennings, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* 90°
France
Jules Janaud, Raphël Martinez-Bachel, François Roisin, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* ADIDAS - ADISTAR
France
Vincent Wauters, VFX Supervisor (and Compositing)
Mac Guff

* ADITYA BIRLA GROUP INDIA - "TAKING INDIA TO THE WORLD"
Israel
Doron Fiterman
Gravity Visual Effects & Design

* THE ADVENTURES OF BAXTER & MCGUIRE: THE SOCCER GAME
U.S.
Mike Blum

* ALTER EGO
Poland
Kuba Gryglicki
Studio Mansarda

* THE ANIMATOR AND THE SEAT
U.S.
Eric Drobile
Ringling School of Art and Design

* ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES (MAKING OF)
France
Pierre Buffin, CG Director
BUF Compaigne

* ARTIFICIAL STUPIDITY
U.S.
Jonathan Lyons, Producer and Director

* BEACH BALL
U.S.
Sam Bayer, Director
PSYOP Inc.

* BECK "GIRL"
U.S.
Mathew Cullen & Grady Hall, Directors
Motion Theory

* BEGINNING
Japan
Takehisa Igarashi, Director
Tohoku University of Art & Design

* BUDWISER "KING CRAB"
U.K.
Brian Smego, Producer
The Mill

* BUILDING BLOCKS
U.S.
Chris Staves & Marco Spier, Directors
PSYOP Inc.

* CAFARD
France
Anne Brotot, Producer
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* Capturing and Animating Occluded Cloth
U.S.
Keenan Crane
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

* CHAOS THEORY
Hungary
Barna Buza, Zoltan Szabo, Gergely Szelei
Conspiracy

* CHARLOTTE'S WEB - CHARLOTTE'S WORLD
Australia
John Berton, Jr., VFX Supervisor
Rising Sun Pictures

* CHEVROLET "BUILDINGS"
Canada
Simon van de Lagemaat, VFX Supervisor
The Embassy Visual Effects

* CHOCOLATE PILLOWS - "LOOK WHAT'S INSIDE"
Israel
Doron Fiterman
Gravity Visual Effects & Design

* CLIK CLAK
France
Aurélie Fréchinos, Victor-Emmanuel Moulin, Thomas Wagner, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* COAL FIRE RESEARCH: A SINO-GERMAN INITIATIVE
Germany
Nils Sparwasser, Director
German Remote Sensing Data Center

* CODEHUNTERS
U.K.
Dana Dorian
Axis Animation

* CONTRAST MINIMUM EDITION
Japan
Tomoko Nagai
CAD CENTER Corp.

* CROW
U.S.
Marie Hyon & Marco Spier, Directors
PSYOP Inc.

* DONKEY XOTE Trailer
Jose Pozo, Director
Filmax Ent.
Spain, Italy

* DREAMMAKER
Germany
Leszek Plichta
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

* DYNAMO
France
Fabrice le Nezet, Mathieu Goutte, Benjamin Mousquet, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* EGO
France
Marie Anne Fontenier, Producer
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* THE END
France
Marie Anne Fontenier, Producer
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* ESC
Canada
Justin Henton, Director

* THE FALLEN OAK
U.K.
Chris Rowland
University of Dundee

* FAT CHANCE
U.K.
Ben Jones
Bournemouth University

* FEDEX "MOON OFFICE"
U.K.
The Mill

* FETCH
U.K.
Dana Dorian, Director, Writer
Axis Animation

* FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 3 - PS3
Canada
Christopher Sjoholm, Kat Kelly Hayduk, Mike Blank, Celia Jepson, Rob Hilson, Andrew Ellem, Vicki Ferguson, Pawel Siarkiewicz
Electronic Arts

* FLIGHT TO THE CENTER OF THE MILKY WAY
U.S.
Donna Cox, Producer
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications

* GEARS OF WAR - MAD WORLD
U.S.
Ed Ulbrich, Exec Producer
Digital Domain Inc.

* GMC "THE ENCOUNTER"
Canada
Simon van de Lagemaat, VFX Supervisor
The Embassy Visual Effects

* GORILLAZ "EL MANANA"
U.K.
Pete Candeland & Jamie Hewlett, Directors
Passion Pictures

* THE GRANDFATHER OF SOUL
U.S.
Jaime Maestro, Director
Keytoon Animation Studio

* HALF-LIFE 2: EPISODE TWO
U.S.
Doug Lombardi
Valve Corp.

* HAPPY FEET
Australia
George Miller, Director
Animal Logic

* HERBSTLAUB
Germany
Oliver Vogel, Director and Animator
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

* HP HANDS "JAY-Z"
U.S.
Rich Silverstein & Steve Simpson, Creative Directors
Motion Theory

* IT'S JERRYTIME!: THE BIG TIME
U.S.
Jerry Zucker & Orrin Zucker
Ozone

* JET PRODUCTION FROM A ROTATING BLACK HOLE
U.S.
Donna Cox
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications

* JOHNNIE WALKER "HUMAN"
U.K.
Dante Ariola, Director
The Mill

* KINSKI REVISITED
Germany
Volker Helzle
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

* LA MARCHE DES SANS NOM
France
Nicolas Laverdure, Lucas Vigroux, Jean Constantial, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* LENOVO "VIRUS"
Canada
Simon van de Lagemaat, VFX Supervisor
The Embassy Visual Effects

* LIQUID SIMULATION ON LATTICE-BASED TETRAHEDRAL MESHES
U.S.
Nuttapong Chentanez, Bryan E. Feldman, François Labelle, James F. O'Brien, Jonathan R. Shewchuk
University of California, Berkeley

* L'ODYSÔE DE LA VIE
France
Niels Tavernier, Director
Mac Guff

* LOST ODYSSEY OPENING CINEMATICS
Japan
Ikuo Nishii
ROBOT Communications Inc.

* L'UOMO UCCELLO
France
Renaud Jungmann
L'Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués

* MAGIC FLUID CONTROL
Switzerland
Nils Thuerey
ETH Zürich

* Manakai
Japan
Makoto Yabuki, Director, Producer, Designer
TANGRAM Co. Ltd.

* MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE - INTRO
U.S.
Debbie Yu
Blur Studio

* MICROSOFT ZUNE "TWO LITTLE BIRDS"
U.S.
Glenn Cole, ECD/AD
Motion Theory

* MOUTONS
France
Simon Blanc, Vivien Cabrol, Arnaud Valette, Directors
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* NBA STREET HOMECOURT
Canada
Mike Young, Ryan Cleven, Simon Sherr, Ryan Santos, John Cruz, Malcolm Andrieshyn, Hafid Roserie, Alan Jarvie, Sinisa Karolic, Stu McKenna, Derek Sibelle, Trevor Delahaye
Electronic Arts

* NISSAN 4X4 (2)
France
Lieven van Baelen, Director
Mikros Image

* OLI'S CHANCE
Germany
Johannes Weiland, Saschka Unseld, Directors
Studio Sol

* ORVILLE REDENBACHER
U.S.
Ed Ulbrich & Karen Anderson, Executive Producers
Digital Domain Inc.

* PARAWORLD
U.S.
Michael McCormick, Director, 3D Lead, Shading & Lighting Artist

* PEPSI "DANCE TRON"
U.S.
Sabrina Elizondo
Method Studios

* PERCEPTIVE PIXEL MULTI-TOUCH DEMO REEL
U.S.
Jefferson Han
Perceptive Pixel

* PERPETUUM MOBILE
Spain
Enrique García, Raquel Ajofrín, Rubén Salazar
SILVERSPACE ANIMATION STUDIOS

* PHYSICS ON GPUS
Japan
Takahiro Harada
The University of Tokyo

* PRESENTATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE USING 4K REAL TIME RENDERING System
Japan
Takanori Ito
TOPPAN PRINTING CO. LTD

* THE RAT RULES!
U.S.
Blair Clark, Joel Friesch, Visual Effects Supervisors
Tippett Studio

* RESPIRE, MON AMI: BREATHE, MY FRIEND
U.S.
Chris Nabholz, Director
Ringling School of Art and Design

* SILENT HILL (MAKING OF)
France
Patricia Boulogne
BUF Compaigne

* SKY HD "FEEL EVERYTHING"
U.K.
Jo Sheppard & Stefanie Boose, Producers
The Mill

* SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL INTERACTION FROM COSMIC COLLISIONS
USA
Carter Emmart
American Museum of Natural History

* SONY BRAVIA PAINT TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN
U.K.
Jonathan Glazer, Director
The Moving Picture Co.

* SPACE
South Korea
Sang yeong Jeong, Director
NCsoft

* SPACE SHOWER HOT PROGRAM TITLE
Japan
Synichi Yamamoto & Yasuo Koga, Directors
OMNIBUS JAPAN

* SPIDER-MAN 3: BIRTH OF SANDMAN
U.S.
Sony Pictures Imageworks

* SUPERMAN
U.K.
Jon Thum, Visual Effects Supervisor
Framestore CFC

* Ted
U.S.
Serge Patzak
1st Ave Machine

* TOURNIS
France
François Vogel, Claude Letessier
Paranoid Projects

* TOYSHOP
U.S.
Natalya Tatarchuk, David Gosselin, Dan Roeger, Directors
AMD/ATI Research

* VENUS VENUS
Japan
Tomoko Nagai
CAD CENTER Corp.

* VERSUS
France
Marie Anne Fontenier, Producer
Supinfocom Valenciennes

* VIDEO 3000
Germany
Jörg Edelmann
Stuttgart Media University

* VOLKSWAGEN TOURAN
France
Appert Aurélie
Mikros Image

* WARHAMMER ONLINE - THE AGE OF RECKONING (INTRO)
U.S.
Jeff Chamberlain, Scott Abeyta
Blizzard Ent. Cinematics

* WAVE PARTICLES
U.S.
Cem Yuksel
Texas A&M University

* WORLD OF WARCRAFT: THE BURNING CRUSADE
U.S.
Janet Garcia
Blizzard Ent.

For more information on the SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival, visit www.siggraph.org/s2007/attendees/caf/.

SIGGRAPH 2007 ( www.siggraph.org/s2007) will bring an estimated 25,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to San Diego for the industry's most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and the web from Aug. 5-9 at the San Diego Convention Center. SIGGRAPH 2007 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from Aug. 7-9. More than 250 international exhibiting companies are expected. Registration for the conference and exhibition is open to the public.

ACM SIGGRAPH, the leading professional society for computer graphics and interactive techniques, sponsors SIGGRAPH 2007.