Letter from Festival Director We are delighted to announce the online availability of podcasts of the October 2005 Symposium. We thank the participants for their generosity and agreement in providing these podcasts.

We would like to think that the Symposium may have lit a spark which will continue to burn.

We would also like to thank all those who participated in the Short Film Symposium here whether they attended as filmmakers, critics, writers, festival organisers or curators, we appreciated the rich mix of individuals and organisations who contributed to the success of the event.

The aim of the gathering was to bring together the short film community and allow space for reflection on, and assessment of, the art of the short film. We hope that all the delegates found the event beneficial. Representatives from over 25 countries attended the Symposium, and again we thank them for their efforts in being here and for their contributions.

 In this regard, our project of a canon of Great Shorts (for which we have received many suggestions) and the publication which will result from that, are on-going longer term projects. It is our aim to publish this book, and should anyone wish to make suggestions and contributions - please do feel free to Contact on info@corkfilmfest.org.

Finally, a further thanks goes to all of the vital organisations who supported the event - the International Short Film Conference (special thanks to Bronwyn Kidd of Flickerfest and Shane Smith of Worldwide Shorts), the Arts Council, the European Coordination of Film Festivals and Irish Distillers (Jacques Henry-Bezy for his enormous support) and of course Cork2005.

We look forward to further discussion and debate in the coming years on the subject of shorts.

With best wishes for 2007, Mick Hannigan Festival Director