Screen International isteaming up for the third consecutive year with the Hollywood Film Festival andthe Hollywood Awards to present the Hollywood World Award, a prize for the bestin world cinema which will be presented at the Hollywood Awards ceremony at theBeverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on Oct 23.

The award is a key predictorof foreign films which are set to receive kudos in the year's awards season. In2004, the prize went to both The Motorcycle Diaries and The Sea Inside, while last year Stephen Frears' Mrs HendersonPresents was the winner.

A panel of internationaljudges consisting of critics, festival directors and impartial executives chosethe shortlist of films last year which included Cannes favourites Hidden and L'Enfant and French hit The Beat That My Heart Skipped.

Qualifying films must havetheir world premieres between Oct 1, 2005, and Oct 1, 2006, encompassing thisyear's crop from all the major film festivals.

The Hollywood Film Festival presented by Starz - thisyear, the festival is being sponsored in the first year of a multi-yearsponsorship agreement with Starz Entertainment Group (SEG) - is also looking to screen as many ofthe films as possible. Its final deadline for submissions is Aug 20, althoughshould a film be shortlisted it would be eligible for screening in thefestival. This year's festival runs from Oct 17 to 23.

"We are very excited andproud that Screen International and its team will be joining with the festivalto honour film-makers from the global creative community," stated festivalfounder and executive director Carlos de Abreu. "We want to ensure that webridge the gap between established Hollywood and world cinema by showcasingfilms during the 10th annual Hollywood Film Festival."

"The Hollywood World Awardis a perfect opportunity for the Los Angeles community to tune into the best ofthe year's world cinema including the cream of the crop from the Venice andToronto festivals weeks before," added Colin Brown, editor-in-chief of ScreenInternational. "We are thrilled to be working with Carlos and The HollywoodFilm Festival once more in presenting this prestigious award."

Screendaily will be postingupdates on the Hollywood World Award throughout the summer, naming the jurywhich will vote on the year's best films and announcing the shortlist in thefirst week of October.

The Hollywood Awardsceremony itself is one of the most glittering nights in the film calendar. Atlast year's event, attending luminaries included Halle Berry, Charlize Theron,Diane Keaton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Rachel McAdams, Susan Sarandon,Paul Haggis, Sam Mendes and Matthew Broderick among others.

For more information pleasego to www.hollywoodfestival.com.