In response to the success of its previous editions helmed by Oscar-nominated director Spike Lee, Chairman Emeritus of the Jury, independent web and mobile video content platform Babelgum is pleased to announce the call for entries for the 3rd Babelgum Online Film Festival (BOFF3). This year's BOFF will feature simultaneous mobile and online viewing and voting by the global public in four categories. As part of the festival, Stolichnaya Vodka will present the inaugural Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award.

Acclaimed filmmakers and industry experts including writer/director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, School of Rock, Me and Orson Welles), writer/director Sally Potter (Orlando, Yes, RAGE), director/producer Annie Sundberg (The Trials of Darryl Hunt, The Devil Came on Horseback, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work), producer Eric Watson (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), and director/curator Jason Wishnow (Oedipus, Director of Film & Video, TED), will be among those serving as Jurors for the Festival.  Awards will be presented in four categories with additional Jury members to be announced soon.

The Babelgum Online Film Festival was created to celebrate and reward the very best in international independent short filmmaking by providing exposure and cash awards. With its non-restrictive submission guidelines and international visibility, the festival supports and encourages emerging talent and continues to provide a unique venue for filmmakers to showcase their craft.

For this year's edition, Babelgum has partnered with Shooting People, the world's largest network of independent filmmakers, to reach its 35,000+ global membership and the 2 million plus constituents of its partner organizations. The Stoli Emerging Filmmaker and BOFF3 Award Winners will be announced at a screening and cocktail reception in New York City in late April.

Karol Martesko-Fenster, SVP & General Manager of Babelgum's Film Division, stated, "The first two editions of the Babelgum Online Film Festival made an impressive debut with filmmakers, the entertainment community, and audience members around the world. We are very excited to be launching the 3rd edition of BOFF and are honored that Stolichnaya Vodka has demonstrated its commitment to independent film by agreeing to partner with us. We are looking forward to highlighting the deserving work of filmmakers around the globe including those in Shooting People's extensive professional community."

From London, James Mullighan, Shooting People's Creative Director, said: "Shooting People has greatly admired the opportunities offered to undiscovered independent filmmaking talent by the Babelgum Online Film Festival's previous two editions. As such, we are delighted to be so heavily involved with the third edition of BOFF, and will be exhorting our members to enter, and get amongst the generous prizes."

Entries for BOFF3 will fall under four categories, with no restrictions on production year or whether the

film has been previously distributed or entered into any offline or online film festival. Films with running

times up to 15 minutes are eligible:

Animation - includes stop-motion, anime, hand-drawn, CGI, paper-cut, or any other animation form (5 min max.)

Narrative - includes story-based, fictional live-action films in any genre (15 min max.)

Nonnarrative - includes live-action artists' film and video (5 min max.)

Documentary  - includes observational, presenter-led, narrated, real-life storytelling (15 min max.)

The Babelgum Online Film Festival will award the following prizes:

• The Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award will be presented to new or emerging filmmakers who display clear and outstanding achievement through direction, animation, writing, and/or camerawork in any of the four categories.

• The Audience Awards will be given to an outstanding film in each category receiving the highest number of votes determined solely by the voting totals from the global online and mobile Babelgum audience.

• The Best Viral Short Award will be given to an outstanding film with ‘viral' potential and a running time of under 5 minutes. The winner will receive a $2,000 cash award.

• The Jury Awards will be given to an outstanding film in each of the four categories, determined by members of the Jury. Four first-place winners will receive a $3,000 cash award and four second-place winners will receive a $1,000 cash award.

• The Grand Jury Award will be given to an outstanding film in any category, chosen by members of the Jury. The winner will receive a $6,000 cash award.

Submissions will be accepted starting today until 11:59 PM GMT on March 28th, 2010. Further information about the submission specifications and regulations, including deadlines for viewing and voting, are available at www.babelgum.com/online-film-festival