SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2022
Oscar Hopefuls on Parade
Venue(s): Line Cube Shibuya, Euro Live, Space O, Torque Spice & Herb, Itscom Studio & Hall, Akasaka Intercity ConferenceJune 7 (Thur) to June 20 (Wed), 2022. Online screening: Until June 30, 2022
Language: Multilanguages, all with English subs
Official website: shortshorts.org/2022/en/
Theater website: shortshorts.org/2022/en/access/
Tariff: Free both online and off
Advance tickets: Visit ticket booking site: https://shortshorts.org/2022/en/ticket/
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 2022 (SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2022)
The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia has found its comfort zone as a hybrid event with its 24th edition, offering a select lineup of films in person — all free — at four venues around Tokyo from June 7-20, as well as online viewing available across Japan through June 30. Over 200 short films, culled from a staggering 5,500 submissions encompassing 126 countries and regions, are vying this year for the chance to be selected as one of the Oscar submissions from this Academy Awards® qualifying festival.
SSFFA continues to expand, adding new features and focuses, showcasing an extensive array of titles from Oscar-winning filmmakers and award-winning work from other festivals. But it’s the Official Competitions — the International, Asia International, Japan 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.
Putting the Oscars aside, there are oodles of other awards to be had: U-25 Project Award, Shibuya Diversity Award, Biogen Award, Book Shorts Award, Milbon Beauty Award, Save the Earth! Minister’s Award, the Ministry of the Environment & J-WAVE Award, and the Global Spotlight Award. The embarrassment of awards riches also extends to other themed prizes.
English-subtitled Japanese films are sprinkled throughout the official competitions, but can also be found in the other competition sections: CG Animation, Cinematic Tokyo, U-25 (highlighting under-25 directors), Branded Shorts, Musical Shorts and Book Shorts.
The 24th SSFFA is themed Meta Cinema: Transcend, Discover, Begin, which the festival defines as “new visual expressions and new ways to enjoy films,” apparently referring to AI technology (the festivals Opening Film, Boy Sprouted, was actually written by an AI bot), smartphone-created films and virtual theater experiences. Other major themes include the Covid pandemic, social isolation, immigration and armed conflicts (an issue of great urgency, with the ongoing war in Ukraine).
With five real-world Tokyo venues to experience the physical screenings in — including the festival’s Omotesando home and the Shibuya Stream Torque Spice & Herb, Table & Court outdoor venue — it should be easy to see everything on your watch list. And if you just happen to be near Yomiuriland, you’ll have a chance to see the Okinawa Short Film Special Program there.
If you prefer to watch online, you get the added bonus of watching live streaming of the opening and award ceremonies, Q&As with filmmakers around the world, and a variety of seminars and other programs. A free account registration is all that’s required to watch the lineup.
There are far too many titles to write about, so here are a few pointers on where to start:
- One of the many new special programs is one called Japanese Filmmakers on the Rise, with work by 13 Japanese directors whom the festival touts as “following in the footsteps of” Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car). Most of them are already known to overseas festival audiences, including Hikari (37 Seconds), Michihito Fujii (The Journalist) and Daigo Matsui (TIFF 2021 Special Mention winner Just Remembering), but do check for the latest shorts by Ken Ochiai, Mayu Nakamura and Yukinori Makabe.
Blood Ties/ブラッドタイズ
Dir.: Ken Ochiai, 0:07:05, Japan & United States, Drama, 2021
Kichijoji Go Go/吉祥寺ゴーゴー
Dir.: Raita Yabushita, 0:16:37, Japan, Fantasy, 2020
The Devil in the Afternoon/午後の悪魔
Dir.: Mayu Nakamura, 0:15:00, Japan, Drama, 2017
A piece of Dogu/時ノカケラ
Dir.: Yukinori Makabe, 0:24:04, Fiction, 2013
- Another special program is called Actors Short Films, with popular Japanese thespians trying out the directing chair. Look for works by Atsuko Maeda, Sho Aoyagi, Tina Tamashiro, Yudai Chiba and Eita Nagayama (starring legendary actor Koji Yakusho). Don’t miss actor-director Hitomi Kuroki’s Senko-hanabi.
Senko-hanabi/線香花火
Dir: Hitomi Kuroki, 0:25:00, Drama, 2022
Communication to be understood/理解される体力
Dir: Atsuko Maeda, 0:18:50, Comedy, 2022
STORY/物語
Dir: Tina Tamashiro, 0:16:20, Fantasy, 2022
- The Cinema Sports Project was started to promote the Tokyo Olympics through films themed on the Japanese capital. Samurai Swordfish features cameos by Tokyo Paralympics gold medalists Keiichi Kimura and Takayuki Suzuki, and who doesn’t love seeing the city at its best and brightest?
- Mom’s Celestial Robe of Feathers was made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, and blends modern-day family issues with the local legend of a celestial maiden brought to earth by a fisherman who steals her feathered robe.
Mom’s Celestial Robe of Feathers
iTSCOM & HALL, Futakotamagawa Rise
Space O, Omotesando
TORQUE SPICE & HERB, Shibuya
Intercity Conference, Akasaka
The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia has found its comfort zone as a hybrid event with its 24th edition, offering a select lineup of films in person — all free — at four venues around Tokyo from June 7-20, as well as online viewing available across Japan through June 30. Over 200 short films, culled from a staggering 5,500 submissions encompassing 126 countries and regions, are vying this year for the chance to be selected as one of the Oscar submissions from this Academy Awards® qualifying festival.
SSFFA continues to expand, adding new features and focuses, showcasing an extensive array of titles from Oscar-winning filmmakers and award-winning work from other festivals. But it’s the Official Competitions — the International, Asia International, Japan 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.
Putting the Oscars aside, there are oodles of other awards to be had: U-25 Project Award, Shibuya Diversity Award, Biogen Award, Book Shorts Award, Milbon Beauty Award, Save the Earth! Minister’s Award, the Ministry of the Environment & J-WAVE Award, and the Global Spotlight Award. The embarrassment of awards riches also extends to other themed prizes.
English-subtitled Japanese films are sprinkled throughout the official competitions, but can also be found in the other competition sections: CG Animation, Cinematic Tokyo, U-25 (highlighting under-25 directors), Branded Shorts, Musical Shorts and Book Shorts.
The 24th SSFFA is themed Meta Cinema: Transcend, Discover, Begin, which the festival defines as “new visual expressions and new ways to enjoy films,” apparently referring to AI technology (the festivals Opening Film, Boy Sprouted, was actually written by an AI bot), smartphone-created films and virtual theater experiences. Other major themes include the Covid pandemic, social isolation, immigration and armed conflicts (an issue of great urgency, with the ongoing war in Ukraine).
With five real-world Tokyo venues to experience the physical screenings in — including the festival’s Omotesando home and the Shibuya Stream Torque Spice & Herb, Table & Court outdoor venue — it should be easy to see everything on your watch list. And if you just happen to be near Yomiuriland, you’ll have a chance to see the Okinawa Short Film Special Program there.
If you prefer to watch online, you get the added bonus of watching live streaming of the opening and award ceremonies, Q&As with filmmakers around the world, and a variety of seminars and other programs. A free account registration is all that’s required to watch the lineup.
There are far too many titles to write about, so here are a few pointers on where to start:
- One of the many new special programs is one called Japanese Filmmakers on the Rise, with work by 13 Japanese directors whom the festival touts as “following in the footsteps of” Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car). Most of them are already known to overseas festival audiences, including Hikari (37 Seconds), Michihito Fujii (The Journalist) and Daigo Matsui (TIFF 2021 Special Mention winner Just Remembering), but do check for the latest shorts by Ken Ochiai, Mayu Nakamura and Yukinori Makabe.
Blood Ties/ブラッドタイズ
Dir.: Ken Ochiai, 0:07:05, Japan & United States, Drama, 2021
Kichijoji Go Go/吉祥寺ゴーゴー
Dir.: Raita Yabushita, 0:16:37, Japan, Fantasy, 2020
The Devil in the Afternoon/午後の悪魔
Dir.: Mayu Nakamura, 0:15:00, Japan, Drama, 2017
A piece of Dogu/時ノカケラ
Dir.: Yukinori Makabe, 0:24:04, Fiction, 2013
- Another special program is called Actors Short Films, with popular Japanese thespians trying out the directing chair. Look for works by Atsuko Maeda, Sho Aoyagi, Tina Tamashiro, Yudai Chiba and Eita Nagayama (starring legendary actor Koji Yakusho). Don’t miss actor-director Hitomi Kuroki’s Senko-hanabi.
Senko-hanabi/線香花火
Dir: Hitomi Kuroki, 0:25:00, Drama, 2022
Communication to be understood/理解される体力
Dir: Atsuko Maeda, 0:18:50, Comedy, 2022
STORY/物語
Dir: Tina Tamashiro, 0:16:20, Fantasy, 2022
- The Cinema Sports Project was started to promote the Tokyo Olympics through films themed on the Japanese capital. Samurai Swordfish features cameos by Tokyo Paralympics gold medalists Keiichi Kimura and Takayuki Suzuki, and who doesn’t love seeing the city at its best and brightest?
- Mom’s Celestial Robe of Feathers was made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, and blends modern-day family issues with the local legend of a celestial maiden brought to earth by a fisherman who steals her feathered robe.Mom’s Celestial Robe of Feathers
iTSCOM & HALL, Futakotamagawa Rise
Space O, Omotesando
TORQUE SPICE & HERB, Shibuya
Intercity Conference, Akasaka
Please be sure to check with the theater before going.