The Short Shorts Film Festival, Japan's largest arena for short film, now joins the ranks of Cannes, Venice and Toronto as an Academy-recognized film festival for short films.

Beginning this June, the film receiving the Short Shorts Film Festival Committee Award will be eligible for nomination for an Academy Award.

"This is a great honor for Short Shorts," said Short Shorts co-founder Douglas Williams. "And a great opportunity for the filmmakers participating
in our festival. With over 1500 hundred submissions from around the world
every year, we have seen many Academy Award winners come through our programming office in years past."

The Academy requires that a film festival have a five-year programming history before it is considered for recognition. Short Shorts will be the first festival in Japan where both live action short films and animated short films are eligible to win the festival's top prize and the Academy eligibility that it confers. The winner of the Hiroshima Animation Festival is eligible for a nomination in the animated short category.

To win a nomination for an Academy Award in the short live action and short animation categories, a film must win the most coveted award from one of its recognized festivals, or screen at least six times for paid admission at a theater in Los Angeles County.

"We are proud to welcome Short Shorts to our list of recognized festivals," said Short Film and Feature Animation Branch Governor Jon Bloom. "This festival is now in the ranks of the greatest festivals in the world which celebrate this innovative genre of film."

The Short Shorts Film Festival begins in Japan on June 3, 2004 with an
opening party at Japan's most prestigious temple, the Meiji Shrine. After
a week of screenings in Tokyo, the festival continues as a touring event with screenings in five other Japanese cities over the summer.