CANNES: The Asian Festival of 1st Films 2005 will be held in Singapore from 25 November to 2 December 2005, it was announced on Wednesday.

An international call to entries to the annual film and documentary fest to celebrate excellence for first time producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, actors and docu makers from the Asian diaspora will be made in June 2005, according to Teamworks' Productions' Sanjoy Roy.

The films selected for the festival will be judged across eight categories by a selection committee from designated seven regions that comprise America, Africa and the Middle East, Australia and Oceania, China, Hong Kong and the Far East, European Union, the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia.

Each regional committee will nominate up to four films in each category, which will then form the competitive section of the festival. The remaining regional selections will be programmed in the non-competitive section of the Asian Festival of First Films.

A jury comprising film and documentary personalities will be invited to judge the best in each category.

The award categories include best film, best director, best actor in a main role, best actress in a main role, best script/screenplay, best cinematographer, best documentary, best documentary director, critics' award and most popular film (voted by the public).

The noncompetitive section will showcase the 56 shortlisted films, along with a one-minute film forum and a platform for "made in Singapore" films.

To be eligible, the feature films should be completed after 1 January 2004 and before 1 August 2005, and should have been commercially released or telecast only in their country of origin.

The films' final prints are to be submitted in 16 mm, 35 mm or 70 mm formats and feature films have to have a minimum running time of 80 minutes. The documentary films have to be submitted in digital video, digital beta, 16 mm or 35 mm formats, and all films have to be submitted in their original language with English subtitles.

The festival will facilitate the distribution and sales of award winning films through Asia Film Market and Conference with a special emphasis on Asian and European markets.