Announcing the jurors for the 1st Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony.
Jurors are Eliza Ikeda, Eiji Uchida & Mike Plante.

Academy Awards® accredited & one of Asia’s biggest international short film festivals, the SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA (SSFF & ASIA ), announces the jurors for the 1st Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony. The jurors are: Actress Eliza Ikeda, who also directed “Town Without Sea” which was released in 2020. Director Eiji Uchida who’s film “Midnight Swan”  won the 44th Japan Academy Award for Best Picture & also directed the Netflix hit “The Naked Director.” Mike Plante who is the Senior programmer in the short film category of the Sundance Film Festival.

“Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony,” aims to support the creation of new visual styles unique to smartphones by expanding the range of visual expression and opportunities for new challenges.

The interest in shooting with mobile phones resulted in more than 900 submissions from around the world, the largest number ever for a new competition of SSFF & ASIA. The film festival, which opens on Friday, June 11, will screen 11 films from 7 countries on our online venues. In addition, an online talk event will commemorate the start of this category at the film festival. Taking part in the talk show will be director Eiji Uchida, a juror of this competition, called out for stories based on Ikimonogakari’s song “Kirakira ni Hikaru” on monogatary.com. He directed the short film “Stardust Children” based on the winning story which was shot entirely on Xperia ™. Also, on the panel will be Yoshiki Mizuno of Ikimonogakari   and SSFF & ASIA festival president, Tetsuya Bessho. They will discuss the new trends in visual creative culture.

This talk show will be released at a later date with English subtitles.

Once again this year, Sony will support the Official Competitions (International, Asia International, Japan) to support the filmmakers who will create & set the new trends & styles of visual contents & is the gateway to a possible nomination in the short film category at the Academy Awards® for Best Short Live Action Film, opening the door for creators who will create new visual cultures and trends.

In addition, the “Smartphone Film Competition” aims to expand the range of expression and opportunities for challenges, and supports the creation of new visual creativity unique to smartphones.