THE Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival, running June 6-10, this year presents 23 programs of short world cinema and a new festival market.

The Academy Presents program will showcase six films that were honored by the Academy in 2001, including: Genie winner Le P’tit Varius; Oscar-winners Father and Daughter (best animated short) and Quiero Ser (best live-action short); and Oscar nominees The Periwig Maker, Rejected and Seraglio.

Canadian Programs, sponsored by the CBC, will highlight the Canadian film scene. International Programs will feature 54 works from 24 countries, showcasing the best of Cannes, Berlin and Sundance film festivals.

Spotlight on Iran, sponsored by The Iranian Embassy, will showcase short works from Iran. Hassan Dezverah, head of International Relations of the Iranian Young Cinema Society, will introduce the screenings.

First Person: The Films of Errol Morris will take off from where some of his notoriously peculiar documentaries leave off. Using the Interrotron, a device of his own creation, Morris has his subjects talk directly into the camera lens, resulting in a series of delightfully strange and entertaining short stories.

Another festival program, Inspired by Hitchcock, is sponsored by Theatrebooks & the Royal Ontario Museum and features shorts by and about the great moviemaker.

Animators’ Perspective: The World of the Brothers Quay, sponsored by Teletoon, features the works of the world’s most original and emulated filmmakers.

The festival also plays host to a marketplace, sponsored by Telefilm Canada, which will facilitate dialogue between filmmakers and the organizations that can help get their ideas on the screen.

The Short Films, Big Ideas symposium is made up of eight panels and workshops. Highlights include: Special workshop with C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures; When the Party’s Over, a post-production workshop presented by top Canadian filmmakers; Anatomy of a Short, a discussion with Florian Gallenberger, this year’s Academy Award-winner for Quiero Ser; and The Revolution Will Be Digitized, a discussion of new media platforms and online distribution models.

Eight awards will be presented on the closing night, five that make up the Canadian and international competitions will be judged by an international group of film aficionados, including writer/director Jeremy Podeswa, writer/broadcaster Cameron Bailey, CBC exec Tara Ellis, U.S. producer Jack Ofield and Brazilian programmer Beth Sa Freire.