Actor Michael Fassbender (SHAME, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS) has joined the YOUR FILM FESTIVAL team to help select the Grand Prize Winner and to co-executive produce the winner’s next film. YOUR FILM FESTIVAL is a global competition to find the world’s best storytellers, connect them with a global audience, and provide one deserving entrant with a career-changing opportunity. YOUR FILM FESTIVAL is a partnership between YouTube and Emirates, along with The Venice Film Festival and Scott Free.

Fassbender’s involvement will mark a reunion of sorts, as his next film will be Ridley Scott’s return to the director’s chair, the highly anticipated PROMETHEUS. Fassbender will also mark his return to Venice Film Festival since winning Best Actor for his performance in SHAME. The Steve McQueen directed film also garnered Fassbender a Golden-Globe nomination.

In YOUR FILM FESTIVAL content creators around the world are invited to submit a 15-minute, story-driven video of any format, style and genre, to Youtube.com/yourfilmfestival. After submissions are whittled down to fifty semi-finalists, YouTube users from around the world will cast their votes, choosing ten finalists. The ten finalists will travel to Italy, where their work will screen at the 69th Venice International Film Festival and a Grand Prize winner will be named. Submission period is currently open and will remain open until March 31, 2012.

YOUR FILM FESTIVAL is one of several efforts by YouTube to push the boundaries of music, art, and film. It follows the incredibly successful partnership that YouTube experienced with Scott Free to help create the critically acclaimed documentary Life In A Day. Other projects like the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, YouTube Play, and YouTube Space Lab are examples of the convergence of online video with traditional arts. Emirates, the global airline, has also come on board as a proud sponsor of the program and the festival.