SSFF & ASIA 2016 Japan Short Program Screened at Kaohsiung Film Festival 2016!
The SSFF & Asia Japan Short program screened at Kaohsiung Film Festival, which started on October 21st.
This collaborative program exchange has been running for years, and this year, we introduced 6 shorts including “OCTOPUS”, which was screened in the SSFF & ASIA 2016 Japan competition.
Director Isamu Hirabayasi and starring actress Kanako HIgashi made appearances at the screening in Kaohsiung on October 28th. During the Q&A session, they introduced other projects that they have worked together on, and also discussed what kind of projects they want to be a part of in the future.
After the 40-minute Q&A session, many people queued for their autographs.
On the day of the screening, a representative from a web media agency from Taipei was invited to interview filmmakers at Kaohsiung Film Festival.
To our delightful surprise, the interviewer was Mr. Kai-yu Chang, director of the film “Incredi-Boy,” which was screened in the SSFF & ASIA 2016 Asia International competition. He was also one of the directors featured in the “Tokyo Cinema Ensemble,” which screened at this year’s award ceremony. (You can watch the film on the website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbOIE7DB49U). We were all excited for this unexpected reunion.
The award ceremony for the Short Film Competition was held on October 29th. The attendees included Taiwanese directors as well as international filmmakers and festival programmers. Together, they celebrated the winners.
Kaohsiung Film Festival introduces both short and feature-length Japanese films every year, which proves that Japanese films have been well-received by the people in Kaohsiung. This year, several Japanese directors such as Isao Yukisada, SABU, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri and Miwa Nishikawa have participated in the festival.
The festival continues until November 6th, and we hope that more people in Taiwan continue to enjoy Japanese films!