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5 cities, 8 venues & Mexico City

The festival toured 5 cities: Mexico City, Mexico and across Japan; Tokyo, Nasu, Nagoya, Osaka, and Hiroshima. It was the first year for Nasu in Tochigi Pref. to host the festival and it received an enthusiastic response from the local film fans.

Over 2,200 films from 53 countries

From the enormous number of submitted works, the committee selected 30 shorts from 14 countries.

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Competition Programs

International CompetitionSSFF presented 30 Japan premiere short films from 14 countries. Short Shorts is proud to support women directors and the alternative point of view they offer from behind the camera. Each year we receive more and more shorts directed by women and wanted to highlight some of these exceptional films in 2006. In 2006 the Short Shorts Film Festival was proud to announce a new award sponsored by MoviePlus and Jupiter TV Co., Ltd. The "MoviePlus/Jupiter TV Award" will be presented to the winner of the International Competition. This new award aims to support and celebrate the talent and passion of young international filmmakers.

National Competition SSFFA presented two specially invited short films, "RE:CYCLE" and "IRON" directed by Hiroyuki Nakano who was famous for "RED SHADOW" and "SF Samurai Fiction." "IRON" was a Japan premiere. In the National Program, SSFFA screened another three specially invited short films commemorating the year of Exchange between Japan and Australia. SSFFA was proud to present a new film by Toshiro Sonoda (last year's "SUPER DRY AWARD" winner) titled "Tokyo Tenshi," which Toshiro funded with the scholarship awarded to him in 2005. The film stared Akira Emoto and Motoki Fukami.

 

Special Programs

Academy Program

The annual Academy Awards® Ceremony is indeed one of the biggest film events in the world but the short film category is not that well known yet to the general public. In 2006 SSFF presented five Academy Awards® winning and nominated short films in the Academy Program.

Australian Short Shorts

SSFF featured talented Australian directors George Miller, Phillip Noyce, and P.J. Hogan in the "Maestro Program." For the Australian Star short, SSFF screened a short film starring a young Mel Gibson. In the National program, SSFF screened three specially invited short films that connected Australia and Japan.

Women Short Shorts

In the recent years, there has been an increase in the number of short films directed by women. In order to highlight that fact, SSFF featured "Dealbreaker" co-directed by popular actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, and also screened short films directed by women.

Thank You for Smoking

In 2001, at the Short Shorts Film Festival (formally known as the American Short Shorts Film Festival), one bright, young filmmaker received the Audience Award for his excellent short film, "In God We Trust." His name was Jason Reitman and joining him in Tokyo was the producer Daniel Dubiecki. Last year, the same team produced their first feature film, "Thank You for Smoking" with an all-star cast including Aaron Eckhart, Rob Lowe and Katie Holmes. The film drew wide public attention at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006. With Jason's impressive Hollywood debut, he's on his way to more and more success. The Special Japanese premiere screening of "Thank You for Smoking" (the film would be officially released in Japan in fall 2006) to commemorate the Jason’s first feature film and also screen "In God We Trust" to illustrate the path to success. A special Japanese premiere screening of "Thank You for Smoking," which would be officially released in Japan in fall 2006, was held to commemorate Jason’s first feature film and "In God We Trust" was also screened to illustrate his path to success.

Wrong Coast

"Wrong Coast" is a Showbiz news show from a different dimension. You won't be able to stop smiling with these hilarious parodies based on films and celebrities.

VIRGIN TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills

SSFF again hosted All-Night Screening at TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills on June 2 and 3. Though the screenings were held from 24:00 to 5:20, there was very good attendance and a good time was had by all. As a special screening, SSFF presented the popular Russian animation "Cheburashka." SSFF also featured 16 of the best shorts from our past selections, titled the "Best of Short Shorts."

Award Ceremony

1,700 guests attended the Award Ceremony on June 11. Jury members announced the award-winning films that were screened at the ceremony and presented the awards to the filmmakers.

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Jury

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Awards

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2006 ASIA New Frontier: Short Shorts Film Festival Asia 2006

A boost in popularity: "Short Shorts Film Festival Asia"

With a rise in popularity, SSFFA welcomed the year 2006, the 3rd year since its establishment, collaborating again with SSFF.

Asia International Program screened in Osaka for the first time!

This year, Osaka presented "Asia International Program" for the first time in National Tour. We have received a great number of positive responses from the audiences.

Total submissions: Over 400 films from 17 countries

From the enormous number of submitted works, the committee selected 38 shorts from 12 countries.

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Competition Programs

Asia International Competition

SSFFA presented 26 excellent Asian short films from 11 countries. All Asia International short films were Japanese premieres. 2006 was also a special year for Singapore and Japan and SSFFA featured 5 short films from Singapore.

National Competition

Along with screenings of short films from the National Competition, SSFFA presented two specially invited short films, "RE:CYCLE" and "IRON" directed by Hiroyuki Nakano who is known for his films "RED SHADOW" and "SF Samurai Fiction." "IRON" was a Japanese premiere. In the National Program, SSFFA screened three specially invited short films commemorating the year of Exchange between Japan and Australia. SSFFA was proud to present a new film by Toshiro Sonoda (last year's "SUPER DRY AWARD" winner) titled "Tokyo Tenshi," which was funded with the scholarship awarded to him in 2005. The film stared Akira Emoto and Motoki Fukami.

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Special Programs

"How Does the Blind Dream" directed by Jitae Yoo

The latest version of "YOU-REI TAI UCHU-JIN", a collaborative piece of Takashi Shimizu ("JU-ON: The Grudge") and Keisuke Toyoshima ("Tales of Terror Nobuhiro-san") had its Japan premiere. Mr. Shimizu and Mr. Toyoshima made a surprise appearance at the screening and communicated with the excited fans.

Special Seminar with a popular Korean actor, Ji-Tae Yoo

SSFFA invited a special screening of "How Does the Blind Dream" directed by Jitae Yoo the popular actor from "Old Boy" and "Running Wild Beast." It was a Japan premiere and a seminar on directing techniques for short films was held after the screening.

Korean Music Clips

Our Korean Music Program has been very popular since the first festival in 2004. For 2006, the SSFFA presents dramatized Korean music videos with strong plots. The lineup included selected works by Jaehyok Jang who is leading the Korean CF and music video scene as well as a music video produced from Hyejin Jang's latest album (starring Yoonjin Kim "SWIRI"). The program was presented by the Korea-Japan Music Coordinator Masanori Furuya.

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VIRGIN TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills

SSFF again hosted the All-Night Screening at TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills on June 2 and 3. Though the screenings were held from 24:00 to 5:20, many attended and truly enjoyed themselves. As a special screening, SSFF presented a popular Russian animation titled "Cheburashka." SSFF also featured 16 of the best shorts from our past selections, the "Best of Short Shorts."

Award Ceremony

Over 1,700 guests attended the Award Ceremony on June 11. Jury members announced the award-winning films, which were screened at the ceremony, and presented the awards to the filmmakers.

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Jury

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Awards