News & Reports

The Opening Ceremony of the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2023 (SSFF & ASIA), one of the  biggest international short film festivals in Asia & accredited by the Academy Awards, was held on June 6, 2023 (Tues) at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA.

About 200 films selected from over 5215 films, including 5196 films from 120 countries and regions around the world & special screenings, will be available online and at five venues in Tokyo. At the same time, we introduced various special projects and announced five awards: Shibuya Diversity Award, U-25 Project, MILBON BEAUTY AWARD, J-WAVE SOUND OF CINEMA Award, and the Global Spotlight Award.

For the 3rd Actors Short Film Project, which is produced by WOWOW, a broadcasting company, actors Kengo Kora, Hiroshi Tamaki, Taishi Nakagawa, Mansai Nomura appeared on stage along with actress Tao Tsuchiya who appeared online & talked about the challenges of directing for the 1st time. Mr. Kora said, “The script was both fun and difficult. I once tried to write a script that I wanted to do someday, but I thought it would be difficult to write a script by myself, and this time it took half a year to produce.

Mr. Tamaki, as 1st time director, said, “out of 100 words that came to my mind, I connected the ones that seemed to have a message to make a story. It was difficult to share the image in my mind with the staff, but it was just “fun” and I wanted to keep shooting forever. I wanted to devote myself to the position of director, but there was a rule that the actor has to appear as well so I did so reluctantly,” inviting laughter from the audience. Mr. Nakagawa, who directed a story about friendship, said, “The story is not from real experience, but three boys will appear who represent a certain era. I wanted to make a work with people of the same generation & I was particular about showing the youth of today vividly, including the language. ” Mr. Nomura, who also wrote the script said, “This time, I chose an intersection as the shooting location, so every time a car passed by, I had to say ‘Wait a minute!” At the end of the day, while everyone was cleaning up, I decided to shoot a scene where I dance alone at midnight, and it was a battle with the limited 2-day shoot.”

Tao Tsuchiya, who directed & wrote the script, “It was a very happy time. I learned a lot from being able to participate in casting that I normally don’t as an actor, and my respect for the crew has grown again. Arimura Kasumi’s role is a very difficult role, but I thought that there was no one else who could express this delicate and difficult role.’’ She said with a smile while recalling when she actually made the offer to Kasumi Arimura.　
In addition, director Tetsuya Chihara, along with Yumi Adachi and Kotona Minami of the cast  appeared for the film “I SCREAM FEVER.” When asked by festival ambassador LiLiCo how she felt about playing the role of a mother with a daughter who is in the prime of puberty, Adachi said, “Since I have a daughter in high school, I was able to incorporate that feeling into my performance, and I thought that the character I played had an irresistible charm, so I enjoyed playing it.” Minami, who played the main character, said, “In the film the mother says, ‘You should show affection to the person you love while you’re with them,” I really believed that & played the role that way.

For the Global Spotlight Award, which concluded the opening ceremony, the short film “TRAP by SEO IN GUK” directed and starred by the popular Korean star Seo In Guk, considered one of the new Korean wave stars, said in a video message, “I stretched my imagination to play the main character who is trying to escape. There are a few action scenes in the second half, but I was able to shoot those difficult scenes so I’m very satisfied. I want many people to see my work through film festivals.”

The Short Shorts Film Festival was inaugurated in 1999, and this year marks the 25th anniversary of the International Competition and the 20th anniversary of the Asia/Japan Competition. Festival President Tetsuya Bessho said, “This year, which is a celebration, we will continue to value the history and knowledge we have cultivated with the filmmakers, the network of supporters, the community, and the film festival.”
LiLiCo, who has worked with Bessho as an MC, said, “Today is the beginning. You never know what the film festival will bring in the future, so keep an eye out!” 
*The archive of this ceremony is on YouTube （ https://shortshorts.org/2023/en/opening-ceremony/ ）