SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2024
Bold, Beautiful and Brief
Venue(s): Line Cube Shibuya, Akasaka Intercity Conference Center (Air), Futakotamagawa Rise Studio & Hall, Euro Live, Omotesando Hills Space O, Mikan ShimokitaJune 4 (Tue), 2024 to June 17 (Mon), 2024
Language: Multilanguages, all with English subs
Official website: www.shortshorts.org/2024/en/
Theater website: www.shortshorts.org/2024/en/access/
Tariff: Mostly free.
Advance tickets: Visit ticket booking site:
Talk event: Many — visit the official site for details.
Title: ショートショート フィルムフェスティバル & アジア 2024 (SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2024)
The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, the region’s biggest international short film festival, returns for the 26th year with an incredible lineup of some 270 films, culled from nearly 5,000 submissions (including 112 “created” by AI) from 114 countries, all vying for awards that may make them eligible for Academy Awards® attention. Running June 4 through June 17 at various venues in Tokyo, the SSFFA is free, as always, and all non-English-language films are subtitled in English. Theme-lined Illuminate Your Life: Illuminate Your World, SSFFA 2024 “aims to shed light on human existence amidst global challenges.”
SSFFA will once again showcase an extensive array of titles from Oscar-winning filmmakers and award-winning work from other festivals. But it’s the five Official Competitions — the International, Asia International, Japan, Animation and Non-Fiction sections — that are the real draw. The winners of each section’s Best Short Award gains automatic qualification for Oscar consideration, as well as a shot at the SSFFA Grand Prix, the George Lucas Award.
There’s an embarrassment of other awards riches to be had, including: the U-25 Project Award, Shibuya Diversity Award, Amic Sign Award, Global Spotlight Award, Biogen Award, Book Shorts Award, Milbon Beauty Award and a new JAL Award.
There are five real-world Tokyo venues to experience the physical screenings in — the festival’s Omotesando home (Space 0), Shibuya’s Euro Live, Akasaka’s the Air, Futakotamagawa Rise and Mikan Shimokitazawa — so it should be easy to see everything on your watch list... and more.
If you prefer to view the films online, you get the added bonus of watching the livestream of the opening and award ceremonies, Q&As with filmmakers around the world, and a variety of seminars and other programs.
English-subtitled Japanese films are sprinkled throughout the official competitions, but can also be found in the other competition sections: Non-fiction, Animation, Smartphone, Cinematic Tokyo, U-25 (highlighting under-25 directors), Branded Shorts, Musical Shorts and Book Shorts.
There are far too many titles to write about, so here are just a few of our favorites:
Goodbye for Now / サヨナラのかわりに
Dir. Tomonobu Moriwaki, 森脇智延
Japan, 12:49, 2024
Do not miss the festival's opening film, the world premiere of the short film Goodbye for Now (Sayonara no kawari ni) by Tomonobu Moriwaki, starring two of our favorite actors, Yutaka Matsushige and Kenichi Endo, as colleagues and old friends. A music-video teaser for the film was released earlier this year, with an unforgettable song by Tube x Gackt, two music-world stars who teamed up to create a heart-rendingly beautiful ballad. The film is sure to be equally memorable.
KABURAGI / 撮影 鏑木真一
Dir. Riisa Naka, 仲里依紗
Japan, 24:20, 2024
For the second year, SSFFA is showcasing a special program called Actors Short Films, with popular Japanese thespians invited to the directing chair. We loved Kaburagi, a dark satire from Riisa Naka that stars comedian Ryuji Akiyama and Kanichiro as paparazzi colleagues who rely on tips to stalk their celebrity subjects. After they’ve inadvertently caused the death of a starlet who was outed in an article about an affair, Akiyama’s character is traumatized and incapable of working…until he starts getting incredible insider tips about potential scoops on his phone from an unknown source.AIしてる-AI love you
AI Love You / AIしてる
Dir. Raita Yabushita, 籔下 雷太
Japan, 06:55, 2023
Also very smartly written and acted is Raita Yabushita’s AI Love You, which turns the tables on the younger generation in a near-future Japan. Tokio Emoto and Haruka Sasaki are hilarious as they nervously seek permission from her parents to get married, and discover that the older couple is interested only in hearing what their “love compatibility percentage” is according to calculations by an AI app. When they discover the score, a chill descends.
エフェ/Efe
Dir. Shiori Ito, 伊藤 詩織
Japan, 10:23, 2023
Influential journalist Shiori Ito directed and narrates the harrowing, heart-warming documentary Efe, which was shot by the titular 14-year-old boy after a major earthquake hit Turkey and Syria in February 2023. (Like many of you, we can’t wait to see Ito’s feature documentary debut—the widely heralded 2024 film Black Box Diaries, based on the prizewinning nonfiction book about her own experience with sexual victimization, which helped changed laws in Japan.)
Warmth in a Puddle
Dir. Sorao Sakimura, 崎村 宙央
Japan, 10:08, 2024
The lovely animated film Warmth in a Puddle, by Sorao Sakimura, tells a moving story about overcoming difficulties, combining monochromatic drawings with lifelike images, flying fish and a fanciful underwater dance with the creature from the Black Lagoon.
10 Days to Eternity / 十日と永遠
Dir. Kenji Kurata, 倉田 健次
Japan, 24:59, 2024
The beautifully shot 10 Days to Eternity, by Kenji Qurata, follows Akira, a very hip photographer, as he returns to his Niigata home for the first time in over a decade after receiving a mysterious message from his younger brother Jun. When he arrives in the snowy, mountainous environs, he finds his young niece waiting to him a red envelope from her dad. The envelope leads him—and soon, other family members—on a treasure hunt with very poignant consequences.
Please be sure to check with the theater before going.