Archive 2014

The festival in three cities here in Japan and abroad.

Once again the festival took place throughout the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, continuing in the vein of the 2013 Japan event. Thereafter, SSFF & ASIA IN OSAKA 2014 was held at Osaka’s Knowledge Capital over a four-day period. For the International Tour, this year was the ninth festival to be held in Mexico City, taking place from September 4 - 9, whilst the fifth consecutive Malaysia event, set up in 2014 to promote film in Asian regions, was held in November.

We received over 4660 submissions from 114 countries around the world./ Start accepting online submission

We are now accepting the second round of submissions for next year’s Official Competitions online

2nd Tokyo Skytree® Special Short Film Press Event

Scenarios set in Tokyo Skytree were solicited from the general public. Out of the 517 submissions received from across the country, one scenario was selected to be produced as the short film "In the Tree House" by Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia. The director Tsuyoshi Nakakuki, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Shonan no kaze, created a heartwarming film. On May 22nd, a press conference was held to announce the completion of "In the Tree House."

Tokyo Short Film Project/ Visited the Governor of Tokyo Yoichi Masuzoe

Tokyo Short Film Project, created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the collaboration between Tokyo Metropolitan Government and SSFF & ASIA,produced short films that make audiences all over the world think, "I want to go to Tokyo!" Three Best Short award winners from previous festivals were chosen to travel from around the globe to direct films depicting the attraction of Tokyo, each from their individual viewpoint. On May 23rd the festival made a courtesy visit to Yoichi Masuzoe (Governor of Tokyo) to report the completion of the Tokyo Short Film Project films. Screenings of these three films were held at the festival, as was a talk event.

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Competitions

International Competition

With high quality animation shorts especially from Poland and France, more and more animated works have been submitted to International Competition. This year, 37 shorts out of 3297 from 17 countries and regions were selected.

Special screening

"Castello Cavalcanti" Dir : Wes Anderson
"Beat" Cast : Ben Whishaw
"The Egg Trick" Cast : Starring Ian McKellen
"Out of Darkness" Cast : Tom Hiddleston
"Shackled" Cast : Emilia Clarke

Asia International Competition

Human dramas from China and South East Asia play a huge part in the Asia International Competition this year, and 17 shorts out of 635 from 9 countries and regions were selected.

Special screening

"Vesuvius" Dir : Erik Matti
"One Summer Night" Cast : Kyung-pyo Ko

Japan Competition

Most of the entries are fairly long at around 20 to 25 minutes, with short films under 10 minutes, primarily animation and experimental pieces, taking a back seat. 14 shorts out of 332 were selected.

Special screening

"Oh Lucy!" Cast : Kaori Momoi Directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi, (winner of Grand Prix SSFF & ASIA 2012) Cannes Film Festival 2014 Cinéfondation Second Prize
"HIMOKAWA RHAPSODY" KIRYU SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Special Presentation
"KI・RYU" KIRYU SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Special Presentation
"Miyuki' Cast : Rena Nounen

Save the Earth! Competition

Short films to strong messages in regard to environment were gathered from all over the world, and 8 shorts out of 117, including animations and drama pieces, were selected.

CG Animation Competition

Besides the impressive technology, these are all films with excellent stories and a powerful entertainment factor. 22 shorts out of 227 from 31 countries and regions were selected.

Music Shorts Competition

35 music short films including original music short films and official music videos for established artists were presented and brought a new world of short film spiced up by music. In addition, 6 special music shorts in collaboration between UULA and ShortShorts were introduced.

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Special program

Academy Awards® Program

The program showcased a special selection of six short films including nominated and winning short films from the 86th Academy Awards®.
Line-up included "Helium" which won the Best Short Film of this year’s Academy Awards® Live Action Category.

Special Program from Cannes

From one of the biggest film festivals in the world, Cannes Film Festival, 7 short films including a Palme d’Or winner were screened. "Yes We Love" which won the Special Mention of Cannes Film Festival 2014, was screened in this program.

Creators’ Seminar

Film Director Ryuhei Kitamura drew from his extensive experience as a filmmaker to lead a discussion geared towards aspiring visual creators and filmmakers representing the future of the filmmaking and visual image industry. He talked about his experience studying in Australia as a teenager, his Hollywood productions, as well as his new film " LUPIN THE THIRD."

Focus on Switzerland

2014 marked the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Switzerland. With support from SWISS FILMS, 7 excellent Swiss shorts were presented. The director of "Palim Palim" and the assistant director of "LOTHAR" came to the screening.

Football Program

In 2014 the world’s biggest football event, held once every four years, took place in Brazil. Six short films from around the world embodying the spirit of football are introduced in this program.

Short Shorts Football Fever

On the occasion of the ʻShort Film Day’, J-WAVE and the festival presented a special event, "Short Shorts Football Fever." The rock band, androp announced the J-WAVE FOOTBALL FEVER 2014 theme song ʻRun’.

Kaohsiung Film Festival Program from Taiwan

Since 2010, SSFF & ASIA has continued to strengthen its connections with Kaohsiung Film Festival. 5 attractive and powerful Taiwanese short films were introduced as part of this collaboration, now in its fourth year. For the screening, the director and the actress of "The Great Escape From Café City" were in appearance.

Asiana International Short Film Festival Program from Korea

Asiana International Short Film Festival, celebrating its 12th edition this year, presented 5 short films from their selection, including the 2013 National (Korea) competition winner "Family" .

Short Story NAGOYA

To discover and nurture new creative talents and to promote the unknown attractions of Nagoya throughout Japan, 3 short films shot in Nagoya were presented.

The 3rd Visual Tourism Award × Tabi Motion Japon Special Event

The event, including a screening of 7 finalist films selected for the 3rd Visual Tourism Award and performances by local mascots, was held in collaboration with "Tabimoja," a video-sharing tourism website. Local souvenirs and foods were served and handed out to attendees.

Screening and Award Presentatiton of ‘Ibaraki Short Film Award’ nominated films

SSFF & ASIA supported the "Ibaraki Short Film Award" contest organized by Ibaraki Prefecture by announcing the award winner and screening 3 nominated films during the festival.

French Film Festival - Short Film Selection

The "Short Film Selection" of French Film Festival featured in SSFF & ASIA this year, introducing 6 French shorts by up-and-coming French directors.

Tokyo Short Film Project Screening & Talk Event

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the collaboration between Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the festival, Tokyo Short Film Project produced three short films and held a screening and talk event.

FutureCity Yokohama Award presentation and screening of nominated films

In order to raise awareness of the "Environmental FutureCity" Yokohama, the City of Yokohama and SSFF & ASIA screened 6 short films and presented an award to the film that best depicted the "Environmental FutureCity" theme.Andrea Giacomin won the FutureCity Yokohama Award for "More Than Words" .
FutureCity Yokohama Award： "More Than Words" Dir : Andrea Giacomin　(USA)

Screening and Award Presentatiton of ‘Ibaraki Short Film Award’ nominated films

SSFF & ASIA supported the "Ibaraki Short Film Award" contest organized by Ibaraki Prefecture by announcing the award winner and screening 3 nominated films during the festival. Ibaraki Short Film Award： "stroboscope" Dir : A.T (Japan)

Opening Ceremony

This year’s line-up, awards and projects were announced at the Opening Ceremony. In previous years the event has been closed to the public and held exclusively for press, but this year the ceremony was held as the festival event and a large number of audience members attended the　event. To conclude the ceremony, Takumi Saitoh and OhashiTrio held a talk session about their participation in the UULA X ShortShorts Special Production Project, and LiLiCo gave a live performance.

The 3rd Visual Tourism Award

The 3rd Visual Tourism Award (Commissioner’s Award, the Japan Tourism Agency： "Sendai Miyagi Musubi Tabi" (Sendai Miyagi) The Visual Tourism Award Special Mention : "Mattsu, Yamma, and Noburi- The mystery of the seven gems and the flyingcastle-" (Eshime)

Save the Earth! Competition Best Short Award

(Minister’s Award, the Ministry of the Environment)/ J-WAVE Award Best Short Award (Minister’s Award, the Ministry of Environment):』
"Firewood, Kanta & Grandpa" Dir : Takeshi Yashiro
J-WAVE Award："Awfully Deep" Dir : Daniel Florêncio (UK)

Project between SSFF & ASIA and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, SSFF & ASIA announced the online "Food & Agri program" to promote Japanese food and its culture through short films on the official festival website(May 29th to June 30th).

UULA x ShortShorts Special Production Project

The UULA x ShortShorts Special Production Project six short films, which are inspired by music, were announced. Directors, actors and actresses from each film made an appearace. See Page 13 for film details.

LEXUS SHORT FILMS 2014 World Premiere

LEXUS SHORT FILMS 2014 co-produced by powerhouse American film producer Harvey Weinstein had its world premiere. And LEXUS SHORT FILMS World Premiere Party was held at the INTERSECT by LEXUS.

Takumi Saitoh & OhashiTrio Special Talk

"half & half" (UULA×ShortShorts Special production Project) inspired by OhashiTrio’s song ʻHONEY’, was screened alongside the talk session with OhashiTrio and the director Takumi Saitoh. See Page 13 for film details.

Closing Performance

The ceremony was closed with the live performance by LiLiCo who has been appointed as the Festival Ambassador this year. LiLiCo gave a live performance with the festival theme ʻStyle of Cinema’ along with the guitarist Tomoyoshi Watanabe.

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Jury

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Award/Award Ceremony