SSFF & ASIA 2025 Global Spotlight Award Shortlist Vol.4 is announced
SSFF & ASIA 2025 annonced the shortlist vol. 4 for this year’s Global Spotlight Award.
This Award is given to a work outside Japan which conveys the present of the world in a changing world and opens up new possibilities for a filmmaker and supports short films that unites the world.
In 2021, Travon Free’s 2020 Black Lives Matter themed, Oscar(R) winning short film “Two Distant Strangers”, in 2022, NFT animation “Roborovski” (Australia) by Tilda Kobham-Harvey and Dev Petal (“Hotel Mumbai”) , and in 2023, Korean star Seo In Guk’s directorial short film “Trap by Seo In Guk” had been selected as the Global Spotlight Award.
In 2024, Music Drama by Korean pop star Stray Kids “Stray Kids ＜樂-STAR＞ SKZFLIX” won the award and showed high attention to the Korean music short.
The shortlist will be announced monthly from and the final award will be announced in the SSFF & ASIA 2025 in June.
For the 4th shortlist for the Globasl Spotlight Award 2025, Following 2 short films are nominated:
“Brighter Days Ahead” written and directed by singer Ariana Grande, which tells the story of re-experiencing life’s past through advanced memory restoration techniques, and ”MLB x Demon Slayer: Anime Movie“ from the anime ”Demon Slayer“ to celebrate the ”MLB Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim” are also entered.
★『Brighter Days Ahead』
Director：Christian BreslauerAriana Grande/ U.S.A / 26:00 / 2025
A short film directed by Ariana Grande, released with “Brighter Days – Eternal Sunshine (Deluxe)”. It’s an introspective continuation of the album’s narrative, exploring love, loss, and the power of memory with poetic cinematography.
★『MLB x Demon Slayer: Anime Movie』
Director：Haruo Sotozai / Japan /2:14/2025
As MLB celebrates games in Japan, baseball has partnered to release a Demon Slayer short that depicts the evolution of Japanese baseball through the continuous passing of the torch across generations