Programs

This is a program that screens live action films from around the world, excluding Asia. The lineup includes 33 films selected from 2104 submissions from 94 countries around the world. In addition to powerful films that reflect the world today, such as war, refugees, and racial issues, this year we have gathered many films that brighten the world with themes such as music and dance! Special screenings will include "The Mascot" starring Adrien Brody (The Pianist) "Good Boy" starring Ben Whishaw (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) and "Once Outside" starring Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour).

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This is a program that screens live action films from Asia and Japan. The lineup includes 25 films selected from 722 submissions from 36 Asian countries and regions, excluding Japan. From Japan 21 films are selected from 241 submissions. The Japan category has many films with themes of traditional Japanese culture and human connection. The Asia International category features an array of films, including themes such as LGBTQ and featuring actors with disabilities. Special screenings include "The Hong Kong Within Me" starring Helim, formerly of the Wonder Girls and "Zu Mui" directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, winner of 12 awards at the 27th Thai Academy Awards. Seven other films will also be screened!

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In 2018, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Festival, we established the Non-Fiction Competition, a program dedicated to non-fiction short films from Japan and abroad. The lineup includes 15 short films selected from 313 submissions from 55 countries around the world! The films capture people's daily lives and the emotions that spring forth from topics such as war and devastating earthquakes. There will be a special screening for the movie "Now and Then: The Last Beatles Song," a documentary about the Beatles that features the legendary John Lennon!

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The CGI Animation Program, which started in 2011, has evolved into an animation program covering all genres including, stop motion, and hand-drawn animation. The lineup includes 23 films selected from 464 submissions, from 57 countries around the world. This year's program has a large number of light-hearted comedies to illuminate your life! For the Special Screening, we will be screening "The Artificial Conjuring Circle," the first film in the festival to be subtitled and fully generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI)!

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A competition to gather short films from around the world that were shot on smartphones. These short films remind us once again of the arrival of the smartphone cinematography era. Enjoy the new visual expression unique to shooting on smartphones.
9 short films were selected from 88 submissions from around the world.

• SMARTPHONE

Established in 2019 to support promising filmmakers from Japan and abroad, we call for short films of five minutes or less from filmmakers under 25 years old who reside in Japan or have Japanese citizenship. This year, 11 short films were selected from among 69 submissions! "PICTO," was directed by a filmmaker who was still in elementary school at the time of production, and "Play for reals" was directed by a junior high school student. These films show us the potential of teenage filmmakers!

• U-25

This competition accepts submissions from all over the world for short films showcasing the various charms of Tokyo. Productions do not have to b filmed in Tokyo, but must include themes that make one think of Tokyo, be centered on memories of Tokyo or imagine the essence of Tokyo. The program selected 6 films out of 188 submissions from 39 countries and regions.

• TOKYO

A competition that combines short films and advertising that features branded companies or organizations overseas to promote their products and/or activities.

• BRANDED INT

A competition that combines short films and advertising that features branded companies or organizations in Japan to promote their products and/or activities.

• BRANDED NAT

Category of films selected from among the branded movies with the perspective that leads to recruitment.

• HR

Since 2012, SSFF & ASIA has awarded the "Visual Tourism Award Japan Tourism Agency Commisioner's Award" to a tourism promotion short film with elements of creativity, publivity, and trends. For this 13th edition, five films were selected as finalists from among those submitted to the BRANDED SHORTS Competition. One of the finalists will be awarded at the festival in June with the Tourism Agency Commissioner's Award for the Visual Tourism Award.

• TOURISM

Shibuya City has established a basic concept that highlights its future. The aim is to fully establish a global city by developing the concept: “Shibuya--- turning differences into strengths." Shibuya City has collaborated with SSFF & ASIA and will present an award for a short film that promotes diversity and inclusion to spread the basic concept of Shibuya. This program will screen all nominated films and the awarded film. Shibuya welcomes people from around the world to come and enjoy life, understand each other, and live together in harmony to promote turning differences into strengths for the city's future. Let’s make Shibuya together!

• DIVERSITY

Wars and other situations of violence ruin many people’s lives all over the world. We have seen many conflicts that has started and escalated in recent years, like what the world is witnessing in Ukraine or Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory; but too few of them end, and in each one it is the civilian populations that bear the consequences. People are losing their loved ones as well as a peaceful state of mind. Regardless of where we live, in conflict or in peace, we share the same values for human dignity.
By projecting those struggling with various types of hardships in the program, we would like you to get to know how they live, then think about what you can do first to help people around you. This program was launched with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2015. It is our 10th collaboration, and we nominated 11 films in total for the program and screen the selected films both online and onsite.

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Dynamic women and empowerment films meet!
A showcase for films with women-centered narratives that promote a culture of care, empowerment and inclusion. A program for women that are the driving change in filmmaking and are committed to gender equality.

• Women

A program that features films that are focused on LGBTQ+ characters, showing them as well-rounded three dimensional individuals rather than stories based only on their sexuality or gender identity. Representation matters, and we want to show all the colors that inclusion and diversity bring to our lives.

• Rainbow

This program features notable Korean short films such as "STUDIO KOOHYESUN "directed by Koo Hye-sun (Boys Over Flowers) and "Seoul Switch" starring former U-KISS member Kevin Woo!

• Korea

Shining a spotlight by drawing attention to the young talented filmmakers from Japan!

• NEO-JPN

A program dedicated to short shorts (the reason for our name!), who doesn’t love to enjoy very short films and stories that are told under 5 minutes!

• VERY-SHORT

Films that are made with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has been a game-changer in the last couple of years, many tools and software has entered filmmaking in recent years. With the films in this program, we want to explore the possibilities of AI as an empowerment tool to create and enhance films. With all of these possibilities, we believe that the future looks bright for AI filmmaking. This will be the film festival's first challenge of AI-generated subtitles for all the films with dialogue!

• AI

Sports in films have a long history and short films are no exemption. While the world prepares to enjoy the international sporting event, we want to give the audience the rush and passion that watching sports can give. A showcase of the best films centered on sports from the Summer Olympics games.

• Sports

A program for smaller kids to experience short films. Centered on non-dialogue films, a program will suit both adults and children.

• KIDS

Kids possess a thirst for knowledge and a desire to explore and learn. The force that drives kids to seek out new knowledge is curiosity! With this program, we want to spark kid's curiosity through short films. This program is focused on kids and families. There will be a special screening for the movie " MIDORI＆Cheese's Musical Diary", an animated musical journey through history brought to you by a world renowned violinist MIDORI.

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