Ladies and gentlemen, dear film friends

All the minutes were approved and all rapporteurs were duly thanked.
When it came to the retrospective about UNICA 99, various comments were made concerning the excursions and the organization; these remarks will be transmitted to future organizers.

As the expenses for the Jeunesse group have been very high this year, the balance for the UNICA accounts is this year on the negative side.
The Committee discussed this issue at great length and came to a decision due to come into effect as of the UNICA 2000 Congress:

"JEUNESSE":
Contrary to the previous year, only one young film maker will henceforth be sponsored by UNICA, the national Federation and the organizer, under the condition that (s)he has his/her film in the national selection.
The distribution of costs remains unchanged, namely:
50% of the congress card paid by the national federation and 50% paid by the UNICA Treasury
The organizer comes up for the cost of accommodation
The young film-maker takes care of the cost of meals.

IMPORTANT:
Only the persons introduced by the national federation as young film-makers will be recognized as "jeunesse"; the share of expenses for the congress card (50%) will have to be paid by the national federation before the beginning of the UNICA Congress.
We hope that you will have understanding for this procedure.

WORLD MINUTE MOVIE CUP:
After a long discussion the Committee made a decision according to which, in the future, for each round, there will be a drawing of lots to decide about the next two competitors.
This new system has the advantage of maintaining suspense to the end as for the identity of competitors. Many people came to us to make this suggestion.
All the other rules are maintained, including the preselection of the best 16 films by a separate jury.

VIDEOS FOR THE FILM LIBRARY:
The Committee requests all the national federations to allow that the videos selected by the Committee for the Film Library be retained immediately after performing them for the UNICA Competition.
This will make it possible to have better quality videos in the Film Library, and we trust that federations will appreciate this.
We kindly ask you all to accept this request and to confirm it on the entry form. Thank you very much.

THE MILLENNIUM FILM:
It is highly probable that films will be made in your federation about this event. Certain federations will even organize a specific contest for that occasion.

We kindly request you to announce such films to UNICA and, if the offers are in sufficient numbers, we will organize a separate competition of the UNICA MILLENNIUM FILM.

UNICA 2000:
The preparations are running full swing. Do you know that over 150 people have already registered for the UNICA 2000 Congress?
Please circulate the good news to the members of your federation.
The relevant documentation will be sent by the organizer at the beginning of next year.
The 7-member international jury will be composed in the following way: 
2x NLD, ITA, ARG, RUS, IRN, DEU. Substitute : POL

UNICA 2001:
Tallinn is making preparations for the event.
The next Committee meeting will be held in April in Tallinn. We will keep you informed about it.

THE FUTURE OF UNICA CONGRESSES:
The Committee also debated at great length on this issue. The Committee will draft a proposal purporting to re-schedule the General Assembly as part of the standard programme. We expect to submit our ideas after the Committee meeting in Spring 2000.

THE NEW FILM/VIDEO CATEGORY IN UNICA COMPETITIONS:
In accordance with the decision made by the General Assembly '99, the proposal submitted by Switzerland was accepted to take up some specific films in this new category. The full text of the proposal has been sent to you with the documents on the UNICA 99 Congress.
The proposal was discussed thoroughly at Merano and the national federations have received a summarv of the opinions expressed. We kindly ask you to tell us about your opinion before January 31,2000, to be sent to the President of UNICA. We thank you in advance for this as you are all aware of the significance of the issue.
The point is no more to determine whether this category exists or not -the delegates to the General Assembly have already answered the question - it is rather to tell which work (film/video) should be entered into this category.
We are aware that it will be a long and difficult way and we will have to overcome several stumbling blocks to come to an solution that is acceptable and satisfactory for all.

UNPAID MEMBERSHIP FEES:
According to Statutes, we are supposed to cancel the membership of such countries which have failed to pay the fees (for 2 years), or at least to declare them as "sleeping" members. We will unfortunately have to apply this rule again this year. This is why we ask you to meet fulfill your duty and pay the membership fees before the end of the year, if you have not done so yet. Thank you very much.

On behalf of the UNICA Committee, I would like to convey to you, your members and all film friends my best wishes for the New Year, with much success in the coming years, for you personally, in your work and your activities in the field of film and video-making. I hope that the contact between yourself, your national federation and UNICA will be maintained during the Millennium that we now inaugurate.

Max Hänsli
President UNICA