Concerning Competition Categories
Concerning Feature Length Competition and Short Length Competition
Since the inception in 2004, the two competition categories have been set up to discover and nurture the next generation of filmmakers. We look for high quality innovative films exploring new possibility for digital expression and accept submissions from all over the world in Feature Length Competition and Japan only in Short Length Competition. After the pre-selection process, the finalists are selected and screened during the festival. Through the jury process, the awards are given to the filmmakers at the closing ceremony. In the last edition, 683 films were submitted from over 81 countries and regions.
*Feature Length Competition (International): Running time must be 70 minutes or longer
*Short Length Competition (Domestic): Running time must be between 15 minutes and 30 minutes
Note: Only Japanese films are eligible for the Short Length Competition
Selection System and Jury
Pre-Selection
A pre-selection committee consists of film industry professionals and selects the finalist.
Final Selection
The jury consists of domestic and international film industry professionals and awards the films.
Awards Details (Total cash prizes in 2011)
Details of the 2012 festival awards will be announced shortly.
Feature Length Competition (International) Total cash prize: JPY 3,000,000
- GRAND PRIZE
- BEST DIRECTOR
- BEST SCREENPLAY
- SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
- SKIP CITY AWARD (For the Japanese director who displays strong potential and talent for feature filmmaking)
Short Length Competition (Domestic) Total cash prize: JPY 1,100,000
- BEST PICTURE
- HONORABLE MENTION (2 Films)
All the finalists are screened with 4K digital cinema projectors at the state of the art theaters during the festival. Many filmmakers join us from all over the world to network and interact with the audience members as well as jurors and other film industry professionals. We encourage all the filmmakers to utilize this opportunity and hope to become a springboard for the emerging talent.