Theme

(New) Borderless

Dates

September 16th - September 27th

About

Let’s turn transition into power. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, our society is facing major changes. We believe not all of these changes are bad, and some are good changes that open the pathways to new communication and expressions. For example, online communication has taught us of the possibilities of cross-border communication, and videos uploaded on video distribution websites have eliminated the boundaries between professionals and amateurs, creating opportunities for upheavals. In the cultural and artistic fields, including movies, the search for new forms of expression that can coexist with COVID-19 is continuing as well. Some of the searches will end right there while others will lead to new standards. The transitions are ongoing and have yet to be evaluated. Every year, SSFF & ASIA has also acted as an institution that gathers, judges, and gives values to short films produced in the world. This year, about six months after the world has started confronting the coronavirus, we also took on the role to check out new expressions and shed light on the valuable ones. With the postponement in June, we have changed the theme of the film festival from “borderless” to “(new) borderless”, reflecting our message of “What kind of border does the new expression transcends?” Transcending borders that have thus far put a pause on society and created concepts. That is to say, re-examine the concepts we have accepted as normal. This year’s SSFF & ASIA will form a new era of “(new) borderless” expressions through short films.

Jury

Official Competition supported by Sony

Motoya Izumi,Kamiko Inuyama,Jeffrey Bowers,Mariko Tsutsui,Koji Fukada

CG Animation Competition

Sumire Uesaka,Izuru Kumasaka,Tomoyuki Sugiyama

Non-Fiction Competition

Yojiro Takita,Patrick Harlan,Rie Mochizuki