SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-CINEMA FESTIVAL 2023

Marking 20 Years of Digital Discovery

SKIP City Kokusai D-Cinema Eigasai 2023
SKIPシティ国際Dシネマ映画祭2023
Multilanguages, almost all with English subs
Venue: Skip City theater and Online screening | Skip City: July 15 (Sat) - July 22 (Sat), 2023; Closing Ceremony: July 23 (Sun); Online: July 22 (Sat) - July 26 (Wed), 2023
Official website: www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/
Theater website: www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/access.html
Theater website: www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/ticket/

Talk event: Please visit the official site for details

The Skip City International D-Cinema Festival is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year, an amazing feat of longevity from one of the first international festivals to focus exclusively on digital cinema — which is now, obviously, the standard format for films. Established in 2004 at a spacious 4K projector-equipped home in Kawaguchi, Saitama, the IDCF has transformed into a major force for the discovery and nurturing of new Japanese talent.

To bring that point home, they’ve invited some of their favorite filmmakers to attend this year, under the title Skip City Alumni Reunion, including Ryota Nakano (Her Love Boils Bathwater, The Asadas), Shinzo Katayama (Siblings of the Cape, Missing) and Mayu Nakamura (Intimate Stranger, She Is Me, I Am Her).

Opening Gala

International Competition

IDCF 2023 received its highest number of International Competition submissions to date (1,041 entries from 102 countries and regions), from which 10 films were selected for the International Competition. This year’s jury, comprised of Masao Teshima of Asmik Ace, Naomi Akashi of Robot Communications and French producer Patrice Nezan, will bestow the Grand Prize and several other awards.

My Mother’s Eyes/マイマザーズアイズ
Director: Takeshi KUSHIDA / 2023 / Japan / 95min

One Japanese film, My Mother’s Eyes by Takeshi Kushida (The Woman of the Photographs, 2020), is included in the International Competition. It tells the story of mother-daughter cellists whose lives are upended in a traffic accident. With the benefit (or otherwise) of new technology, the two women begin to share one vision.

Japanese Film Competition (Feature Length）

In the Japanese Film Competition, six features and eight short films have been selected from a record number of entries. The jury president is popular filmmaker Ryota Nakano, who will be ably assisted by actress Misa Wada and veteran film critic/author/programmer Mark Schilling.

They will be viewing a range of films by emerging directors of diverse ages and experience levels, including one who is not Japanese.

SKIP CITY Alumni Reunion

Besides these titles, the festival also features films from other countries and all are subtitled in English, so you don’t have to confine your viewing choices to Japanese titles.

Skip City