Short films from South Korea and Canada will be specially featured in the sidebar section of this year's Filmfest Dresden (April 16-21).

The Filmfest is working with the Korean producer-distributor Indiestory to compile an overview of the largely unknown Korean short film scene, while the sidebar entitled "A Decade of Canadian Animation" will present a retrospective of animated shorts produced by the National Film Board of Canada between 1990 and 2000.

In addition, three strands are being dedicated to a British Focus, a programme of French shorts, and a further instalment of the festival's Nordisk Panorama with the spotlight this year on short films from Denmark. Sweden, and Iceland.

The Filmfest selectors report that a record-breaking 1,400 films were submitted this year for the national and international competitions which will be handing out a total of Euros 37,500 in prize-money.

An innovation this year will be the introduction of a Best Newcomer Actor/Actress Award, sponsored by Dresden's ESB-mediencollege with a purse of Euros 5,000, in the national competition section.