To be hosted at Rome's Cinema Modernissimo (30 November - 4 December) ICastelli Animati, one of the world's leading animation festivals currently in its 10th edition has announced a very impressive line up for this year's event.

The festival has Aardman Animations Founder Peter Lord and Japanese Maestro Isao Takahata as the guests of honor this year.

The impressive line up of events includes includes a special preview (20') of the new full length film "Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit": a "horror film for vegetarians", as Lord himself describes it, due out in Italy in spring.

Other highlights include a retrospectrive dedicated to Isao Takahata who shall recieve the 'career award', and a retrospective dedicated to Renzo, (director of "Pica Don"). The retro will be presented by John Canemaker and Renzo's wife Sayoko Kinoshita.

Animation masters who will be part of the event include Paul Bush, Gianluigi Toccafondo, and Oscar-winners Borge Ring and Daniel Greaves.

An important event for the 2005 edition will be the inauguration of the section dedicated to Special Effects for Cinema: two daily appointments and a round table with some of the most important Italian scholars in the field, who will show work methods to the audience with the screening of trailers and 'the making' from some great works in production. Among the companies taking part: "Videa", "Direct 2 Brain" (D2B made the video for Planet Funk), "Technicolor", "EDI-Effetti Digitali" (nominated for a David di Donatello for Special Effects), "EFX Studio", "Justeleven".

The festival will also give plenty of room to new talent. The annual schools' forum for Italian and international animation schools will host French school La Poudrière, one of the most qualified in the world, founded on the experience of the prestigious animation studio "Folimage".

Students will get the chance to take part in workshops on the art of animation, in which exceptional teachers like Isao Takahata, Gianluigi Toccafondo, Borge Ring and Daniel Greaves, will compare their own experiences, and demonstrate the different animation techniques of which they are masters.

Competitions and Awards at I CASTELLI ANIMATI 2005 include the "International Competition", the "Italian Competition" the "Web Competition", as well as the "Bellocchio Prize" for the short film will best social content. To celebrate the tenth edition of the festival there will be a special screening of the Grand Prize-winners and the Special Jury Prize-winners of past editions.

With the Artistic Direction of Luca Raffaelli, I CASTELLI ANIMATI 2005 is organised by Consorzio Castelli Romani. The Festival receives the support and contribution of The Media Programme of the European Commission, of the Chamber of Commerce of Rome, of the Lazio Region, of the Province of Rome, of the Municipality of Genzano, and the patronage of the City of Rome and of ASIFA Italia.