Lu-Ping of "Dark River" &
Pier Paquette of "Buddies" -
Best Actress & Best Actor
bring glamour to the A.C.
Grand Prix acceptor Pete Shelley for "Love You More"
and the gorgeous Kumiko Mori, jury member.
Glay make a susprise appearance
and raises the voltage!
And the stars came out on a rainy night in Tokyo!
The annual award ceremony began well enough with the gray clouds holding back the rain as the guests arrived for their red carpet entrance. Greeted by festival founder and president Tetsuya Bessho, celebrity guests, filmmakers, and members of the entertainment industry filled the Meiji Jingu Auditorium for 2 1/2 hours of awards & short films.
Things kicked off with a performance by a taiko drum unit & an orchestra of Japanese "shamisen" (a 3-string guitar-like instrument) players in traditional kimonos.
Among the highlights were an unexpected appearance by "Glay", arguably the biggest rock band in Japan with the "Southern All-Stars" on hiatus. The were there to accept the first award from the newly inaugurated Music Shorts Competition.
The prestigious jury was led by none other than Yojiro Takita, fresh off his Best Foreign Language Film Oscar win for "Departures." Roberta Munroe, invited to the festival to hold a seminar for young filmmakers about making short films also served on the jury.
The final award, the Grand Prix, taken from the top 3 competitions, was awarded to a short from the UK titled "Love You More," directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, an accomplished multi- genre artist who has worked with Elton John & The Pet Shop Boys. The story revolves around two teen-age students who meet over the last copy of The Buzzcocks single "Love You More" in a local record shop. To great surprise, the award was accepted by none other than Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks on behalf of Sam Taylor-Wood.
As the audience slowly filed out into the raining Tokyo night, we headed over to "Le Baron" for the after party.
DJ John
