Submissions now open until May 31

Winners to attend major international film festival $5,000 prize for Best Short Film

TORONTO, April 1, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced it is inviting Canadian film students and emerging filmmakers to enter its eighth annual enRoute short film festival. Each year, a celebrity jury selects the best short films and, in turn, broadcasts them to a large international audience on Air Canada's enRoute in-flight entertainment system.

The winner of Best Short Film will receive a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of presenting sponsor Cineplex Entertainment. Other awards include Achievement in Direction, Achievement in Cinematography, Achievement in Animation, the third annual People's Choice Award and, new this year, Achievement in Documentary. Achievement Award sponsors include the Directors' Guild of Canada, William F. White International Inc., the National Film Board of Canada and the Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival. All winners will receive an exciting destination prize to a major international film festival courtesy of Air Canada.

Winning films are selected by an esteemed jury, which will be announced this summer. Past jury members have included Jean-Marc Vallée, Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg, Alison Pill, Atom Egoyan, Denis Villeneuve, Donald Sutherland, Sarah Gadon, Suzanne Clément, Alan Cumming, Wendy Crewson, Karine Vanasse, Remy Girard and Don Carmody, among many others.

Selected films will be broadcast on Air Canada's personal seatback entertainment system and viewed by millions of Air Canada customers around the world. A free public screening and awards celebration will be held in Toronto at the end of the year to honour the winners. Additional screenings will take place in Vancouver and Montreal showcasing the selected films.

To download an entry form and view full contest rules and regulations, please visit www.enroutefilm.com. Submissions will be accepted until May 31.

About Air Canada's enRoute Magazine :
Air Canada's enRoute magazine is seen by over 1 million readers each month.  The magazine - available exclusively on all Air Canada flights and in Maple Leaf Lounges worldwide as well as in select hotels and boutiques across North America - is an inspirational authority for the global traveler, known for its strong visual presence and innovative design.  Air Canada's enRoute is published by Spafax, one of the world's leading content marketing agencies.
http://enroute.aircanada.com/

About Air Canada:
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 72 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,328 destinations in 195 countries.  Air Canada rewards its most loyal customers through its top tier recognition program, Altitude, that offers frequent flyers a range of priority travel services, lounge access and upgrades to Executive Class, complementing their membership in Aeroplan, Canada's premier loyalty program, which provides numerous ways to earn and redeem Aeroplan Miles with over 150 travel and retail partners.

Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax.  In 2013, Air Canada was ranked for a fourth consecutive year "Best Airline in North America" in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by Skytrax.  According to the 2013 Canadian Business Travel Survey conducted by Ipsos Reid, Air Canada was the preferred airline for more than 80 percent of frequent business travellers in Canada.  In 2013, readers of Global Traveler magazine again voted Air Canada "Best Airline in North America," the readers of Business Traveler voted Air Canada "Best North American Airline for International Travel" and "Best North America Airline Inflight Experience," and the readers of Premier Traveler voted Air Canada "Best North American Airline for International Travel" and "Best Flight Attendants in North America."  For more information on Air Canada visit aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada