Organisers atthe 2003 Short Shorts Film Festival today (Apr 10) announced the board ofdirectors for the second annual event, which runs in Los Angeles from Apr 29 toMay 1.

The boardcomprises Martin Scorsese, Roger Donaldson, Edward Burns, Colin Farrell andLions Gate CEO Tom Ortenberg, as well as Toni Howard, Naomi Foner, TetsuyaBessho, Keiko Takahashi, Michael Wolf and Masaharu Kohno, the consul-general ofJapan in Los Angeles.

The festivalwill present award-winning films from North and South America, Europe,Australia, Africa, and Asia.

Japaneseanimator Koji Yamamura's Academy Award nominated Mt Head will also feature in the programme, aswill a short film by Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Election) from his days as a student at UCLA FilmSchool.

The Short ShortsFilm Festival originated in Japan five years ago with the support of GeorgeLucas, who wanted to expose audiences in that country to the short film form.The event has grown to an international tour that encompasses six Japanesecities, Los Angeles and Singapore.