OTTAWA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Three short films from the Chinese mainland were selected for competition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) which opened here on Wednesday.

    "We are very exited to have Lei Lei, a Chinese animator here with three films in competition," the OIAF's managing director Kelly Neall told Xinhua in an interview at the opening ceremony in downtown Ottawa.

    The three Chinese entries -- "Magic Cube and Ping-Pong," "Pears or Aliens" and "The Universe Cotton" -- are all from Lei Lei, a 23-year-old up-and-coming multimedia animator, who graduated from Tsinghua University in 2007.

    This year, the OIAF received 2,185 entries from 78 different countries and regions. Of those, 93 short films and 7 feature films were chosen for competition.

    Neall, who has visited China several times, said Lei Lei's successful entry to the festival represents "impressive improvements" of China's animation industry.

    "There is incredible enthusiasm in China for animation," she said. "The Chinese animation industry has been in a state of growth right now. It must be an exciting time for producers there."

    Neall said she was looking forward to facilitating exchanges and cooperation between Canadian and Chinese animation industries.

    The OIAF hosted a special forum on China's animation industry last year, which was a "starting point," she said.

    "Next year I hope we might be able to continue to do that and take it to the next level, and really start co-productions between Chinese and Canadian companies," she said.

    First held in 1976, the OIAF is the largest event of its kind in North America. It has become an annual event since 2005.

    The festival serves as a gathering place for North American animation professionals and enthusiasts to ponder the craft and business of animation. It also provides a platform for exchanges between local professionals and their international colleagues.