The Canadian Film Centre has acquired the rights to the former Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival, and announced the launch of the Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival, which will run June 6-10, 2001.

‘We want it to be the premier worldwide short film festival,’ says cfc director, marketing and communications, Gina Brown. ‘We want to take [the festival] to a new level, both nationally and internationally. We won’t be expanding the run but rather increasing the marketplace.’

Brown says the world of shorts is expanding, with the help of the Internet and airline in-flight short presentations.

‘But if [the festival] wants to get bigger, it needs more resources,’ says Brown. ‘And the cfc can provide that expertise.’

Under the leadership of the cfc, the revamped shorts festival will bring together buyers, filmmakers and distributors for an industry marketplace.

The cfc has appointed Shane Smith as festival director. Smith is the former programmer and operations manager for the Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival of Toronto.

The wsff was founded by Brenda Sherwood in 1994. *

-www.cdnfilmcentre.com