SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2020 and NARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020 Holding simultaneous festivals to represent East & West for the first time!
SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2020 and NARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Holding simultaneous festivals to represent East & West for the first time!
With 3 collaborating projects, supports future young creators
A joint statement from Naomi Kawase, Executive Director of the Nara International Film Festival & Festival President,
Tetsuya Bessho of the SSFF & ASIA
SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2020 (SSFF & ASIA) Academy Awards® accredited & Asia’s biggest international short film festival {09/16 Wed – 09/27 Sun} & the Nara International Film Festival 2020 (NIFF) which will be held on {09/18 Fri – 09/22 Tues}, in order to celebrate holding the festivals simultaneously, are holding various events in collaboration to support young creators.
SSFF & ASIA kicks off with the Opening Ceremony at the Meiji Jingu Shrine which is celebrating its 100th year enshrinement this year. The 10th anniversary of the Nara International Film Festival, began in 2010, the same year that was the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital, was launched by executive director Naomi Kawase. On the 1st day of the festival on Sunday, 09/18, the red carpet ceremony will be held at the Great Buddha Hall at Todaiji Temple.
The 2 film festivals that represent East & West Japan, along with the 120-year history of cinema, will collaborate to pass the baton to the new generations of visual creators & filmmakers. With the following stages:
Collaboration 1)
CINEMA FIGHTERS project part 3 WILL BE SCREENED AT NIFF. The CINEMA FIGHTERS project led by HIRO of EXILE, SSFF & ASIA Festival President Tetsuya Bessho & lyricist Masato Kodake combine music, words & visuals to this project. Director Naomi Kawase participated in Cinema Fighters 1. For Cinema Fighters 3, announced last year, stories of a fateful & miraculous chance encounter; a young first-love story; a gangster who grew up without knowing love, a prostitute living life while questioning love. These stories will be brought to the screen in dramatic fashion.
Collaboration 2)
In collaboration with the NIFF Youth Jurors Program, SSFF & ASIA presents short films geared for young filmmakers in their teens which will be screened their short film program. These films are streamed online for free on the SSFF & ASIA 2020 ONLINE SCREENING site from 09/16 – 09/27.
*The Youth Jurors Program is also linked with Berlinale.
Collaboration 3)
NIFF Executive Director Naomi Kawase & SSFF & ASIA President Tetsuya Bessho with special guest, musician Daiki Tsuneta of popular Japanese units King Gnu & millennium parade will participate in the “Creators’ Junction partnered with Xperia™” to talk about the possibilities of future visual production aimed towards the younger generation of filmmakers on September 28th.
Streaming at: https://www.youtube.com/SonyXperia
Special Website: https://www.shortshorts.org/sony/creatorsjunction/
*The talk show will be pre-recorded.
Joint Statement
I feel the hope that’s delivered to light up people’s hearts & souls through art. I don’t think there’s anybody who hasn’t heard or watched movies & music. People have been forced to experience movies apart from each other because of the Coronavirus. But I became excited when I thought about all the new encounters coming my way with the decision to hold the festival taking the utmost care & precautions.
Whether in person at the festival or watching online, we’ve gathered 53 of the best short films. There are many films made that were made by filmmakers that only they could in their own countries. The joy of encountering those films. Watch those films, go & have some food, take a look around Nara, let’s feel the joy of living in these trying times.
We WILL hold the festival especially in this time of the new Coronavirus! Most of all, we hold most dear watching with our own eyes the dynamic energy of the young filmmakers who have taken the lead in the Youth Cinema Project.
This fall, along with SSFF & ASIA, we will present an unforgettable cinematic experience.