Congratulatory Letter from Worldfest Team

Dear Yuri,

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Executive Staff of the 40th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film & Video Festival...Our sincere congratulations! Out of more than 4,500 international category entries in the 10 major Remi Award Competitions, you are a Platinum Remi Winner!
More than 500 international filmmakers attended the 10-day Cinema Celebration that is WorldFest - 58 great new feature films, 68 international short films! The Remi Awards Gala Dinner was wonderful, with great gourmet food and wine, fantastic entertainment and wonderful networking! The Festival Club in The Renaissance Hotel Lobby Bar was crowded every night with filmmakers from all over the world. China, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, Nigeria, England, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Bosnia, Croatia, Iraq and Iran, Canada, India, Pakistan, Italy, Taiwan, Israel, Japan, Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovania, Bermuda, Viet Nam, Serbia, Slovania, Poland, Greece, England, and even the good old USA!!!

All our screenings of 35mm and digital were held in the flagship AMC Studio 30 Theatres, with some holding more than 650 people. The WorldFest/Houston Yacht Club Sailing Regatta was wonderful in its 21st year... with more than 40 sail and motor yachts participating. There was a tour of NASA/Space Center Houston, great Texas BBQ, Shiner Bock Beer and Champagne.

It is very difficult to win a Remi in WorldFest... with so many entries, only about 15-20% are good enough to win the Remi Award for Creative Excellence. The Remi takes its name from the famous artist Frederick Remington, who captures the spirit of Texas and the West with his brilliant paintings and sculptures! In some categories there may be more than one winner at any level, due to ties in scoring. In other categories, no awards are made because the entries did not score high enough to earn a Remi Award. This is especially true in the Short and Student Categories.

WorldFest did give first honors to Spielberg, Lucas, David Lynch, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, The Coen Brothers, Brian De Palma and many more, so it is not only one of the longest-running film festivals in the world, it is also one of the most significant! We hope that we will be adding your name to that wonderful list of WorldFest Alumni very soon! My personal congratulations for a job very well done.

Thanks for being part of the 3rd oldest film festival in North America and we look forward to welcoming you back for the 2008 competition.

My personal thanks for making this such a great film & video festival. You honor us by entering such superb productions. And as Ridley Scott said some years ago when accepting his Grand Remi Award -- "WorldFest is in the business of validating excellence!" -- We thank you for your participation. Let me know if you need any more information.

Warmest regards from Texas,

Hunter Todd
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