Gustavo Moraeswill receive this year's Fuji Filmmaker of the Year Award at the openingnight gala of the 2003 Short Shorts Film Festival in Hollywood on Apr 29. Thefestival runs from Apr 29-May 1.

'Gustavo issuch a talented film-maker and we are so thrilled to be honoring him thisyear,' festival director Douglas Williams said in a statement. 'Withhis daring and original film-making he embodies the best that short film-makingcan be.'

In addition tothe award, the festival will feature Moraes' short film Baseado Em EstoriasReais (Based On True Stories), which traces Brazil's period of dictatorship from 1964-85.

Moraes hasworked on a number of shorts and commercials in the US and Brazil and is aforeign correspondent for the Brazilian publication Revista de Cinema.

He won the 1stPetrobras Cinema-2001 development award for Baseado Em Estorias Reais and more recently collected the HBOOutstanding Award in Film Producing for his work on the short film AbbieDown East.

The film-makeris currently developing his first feature screenplay, Cup of Dreams, in Amsterdam at the Maurits Binger FilmInstitute.

'The filmstrikes a chord with young audiences who never knew of the dictatorship periodfirst-hand nor learned about it second-hand,' Moraes said in a statement.

'Althoughsome of the Brazilian press has accused the film of being historicallyinaccurate, overall both the general public viewers who have attended thecommercial screenings of the film as well as film festival juries in Brazilhave understood and embraced the attempt that the film makes to address theopen wounds left by this period in Brazil's history.'