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6 cities, 12 venues & Mexico City

The festival toured 6 cities: Mexico City, Mexico and across Japan; Tokyo, Nasu, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Okinawa. Okinawa hosted the festival after a 5-year break and it received excited responses from the local short film fans.

Over 2,000 films from 66 countries

From the enormous number of submitted works, the committee selected 45 shorts from 21 countries.

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Competition Programs

International Competition

SSFF presented 45 Japanese premiere short films from 21 countries. An overall quality of submissions has increased and due to overwhelming numbers of high quality films, SSFF presented 6 programs instead of 5 programs. Furthermore, while short films made by actors and actresses have become a recent tendency, Hollywood famous actress, Jennifer Aniston presented her directorial debut film "Room 10" as a nominee for International Competition. It clearly shows that not only filmmakers, but also non-filmmakers are interested in making short films. In addition, 4 Mexican short films nominated/awarded at SSFF Mexico 2006 were specially screened celebrating the 2nd-year Mexico Tour.

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Special Programs

Academy Program

As a qualifying festival of the Academy Award®, SSFF2007 presented 7 short films, which were nominated or won the award at Academy Award®, including a winner of the Best Live Action Short Film of 2007, "West Bank Story" and a nominee of the Best Animated Short Film of 2007, "Little Matchgirl" in the Academy Program.

German Program

With assistance from Mr. Robin Mallick, who is a festival director of the Filmfest Dresden, SSFF presented German talents such as Wolfgang Petersen and Tom Tykwer in the Maestro Program. SSFF also presented brilliant short films by up and coming German filmmakers.

TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills

SSFF again hosted All-Night Screening at TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills on June 29 and 30th. Though the screenings were held from 24:00 to 5:20, many people came and had a good time. As a special screening, SSFF presented a special premiere screening of 893239, which is a project that combined the efforts of old, and new creators to produce low-budget films using the key concepts of "23 wards of Tokyo" and "Yakuza" gangster.
Opening Event

SSFF2007 kicked off with the Opening Event on June 25.　It gathered wide attention from various media and for the first time invited 100 people from the general public. During the ceremony, winners of the Spotlight Award and Special Mention Award were announced, and Jury members were introduced to the audience.

Award Ceremony

1,700 guests attended the Award Ceremony that was held at Meiji Shrine on July 2. Jury members announced the award-winning films and presented the awards to the filmmakers. An exciting performance by dance unit "STRIPES" who also appeared in Takeshi Kitano's "ZATOICHI" excited the audience. In addition, for SSFF & ASIA 2008, the establishment of a new competition, the "STOP! Global Warming Competition" was announced and the President of the Ministry of Environment, Mr. Masatoshi Wakabayashi gave a message of support to the festival.

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Jury

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Awards

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Variety of Special Programs

With a rise in popularity, SSFFA welcomed the year 2007, the 4th year since its establishment, collaborating again with the SSFF. Mr. Jitae Yoo participated again in the festival as jury member and guest speaker for a seminar with Tetsuya Bessho discussing the current state of the Korean film industry. In addition, there was a Japan premiere screening of "YOU-REI TAI UCHU-JIN," a collaborative piece of Mr. Takashi Shimizu ("The Grudge") and Mr. Keisuke Toyoshima ("Tales of Terror Nobuhiro-san") as well as 3 films including "BABY BLUE" whose characters are voiced by Mr. Yuya Yagira ("Shining Boy & Little Randy") and Ms. Rinko Kikuchi ("BABEL"), from "Genius Party" along with a guest speaker, Mr. Masaaki Yuasa ("HAPPY MACHINE") which drew wide interest from the audience.

6 cities, 12 venues & Mexico City

The festival toured 6 cities: Mexico City, Mexico and across Japan; Tokyo, Nasu, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Okinawa. Okinawa once again hosted the festival after a 5-year break and received enthusiastic response from the local short film fans.

KMC (Korean Music Clip) Program screened in Osaka for the first time!

This year, Osaka screened the "KMC Program" for the first time as part of the National Tour. We have received a great number of positive responses from the audience.

45 quality short films from 11 Asian countries including Japan were selected.

From the enormous number of submitted works, the committee selected 45 quality short films from 11 Asian countries including Japan. A selection included a variety of genres such as animation, comedy and drama with social issues.

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Competition Programs

Asia International Competition

SSFFA presented "Luminous People" directed by the acclaimed short film director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul as part of the "Asian Maestro" celebrating the 120th Anniversary of Japan-Thailand Diplomatic Relations. For the Asia International Competition, the number of submissions from female filmmakers has seen an increase which seems to indicate a "New Wave" in Asian cinema.

Japan Competition

SSFFA presented two specially invited short films, "Line" directed by Hiroyuki Nakao ("THE SECRET SHOW" "trainsurfer") with support from SSFF & ASIA and *NDJC and a SUPER DRY Award Scholarship piece, "Tengu Gaiden" directed by Hidetoshi Oneda who won the Best Short Award and SUPER DRY Award at SSFF & ASIA 2006. Both films were Japan premieres. In the Japan Competition, SSFFA noticed an increasing number of Japanese filmmakers who produced their films abroad. In addition, many Japanese submissions tended to deal with serious themes like war and social problems.

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Special Programs

"YOU-REI TAI UCHU-JIN" directed by Takashi Shimizu/Keisuke Toyoshima

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 hosted a special talk show event with a popular Korean actor, Ji-Tae Yoo and Tetsuya Bessho, presented by HARTZ LINK Co., LTD. Ji-Tae Yoo gained fame with the film "Old Boy," winner of the Gran Prix at Cannes in 2004, and his fine acting has impressed Japanese audiences. He began his career as filmmaker with short films such as "How Does the Blind Dream." SSFFA invited him to talk about his filmmaking theory and the current film industry in Korea in the form of discussion with Tetsuya Bessho.

Genius Party

"Genius Party" is a compilation film created by the brilliant young filmmakers of the next generation that created "The Animatrix" and "Tekkonkinkreet". We were proud to present their short animated films including "BABY BLUE", whose characters were voiced by two outstanding young actors, Yuya Nagira ("Shining Boy & Little Randy") and Rinko Kikuchi ("BABEL"). SSFF & ASIA hosted the Japan premiere of "Genius Party" and a talk show with Masaaki Yuasa ("HAPPY MACHINE") followed the screening.

KMC (Korean Music Clip)

Our Korean Music Program has been very popular since the first festival in 2004. For 2007, KMC program shifted its theme to "Music Drama" which is now becoming a popular trend in the Korean music clip industry. The program presented "Winter Story" with Eric from Korea's popular idol group, SHINHWA and was again presented by the Korea-Japan Music Coordinator Masanori Furuya.

Road to Hollywood - Screenings & Seminar-

While recent achievements from Mexican creators in Hollywood have become very noticeable, SSFFA invited SSFF Mexico staff members to host a talk session on the Mexican film industry and the secrets of success among these highly acclaimed Mexican creators. In addition, 4 Mexican short films from SSFF MEXICO 2006 were screened.

TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills

SSFF again hosted All-Night Screening at TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills on June 29 and 30. Although the screenings were held from 24:00 to 5:20, the attendance was high and a good time was had by all. As a special screening, SSFF presented a premiere of “893239,” a project that combined the efforts of old and new creators to produce low-budget films using the key concepts of the "23 wards of Tokyo" and "yakuza" gangster.

Opening Event

SSFF2007 kicked off with the Opening Event on June 25. It gathered wide attention from various media and for the first time invited 100 people from the general public. During the ceremony, winners of the Spotlight Award and the Special Mention Award were announced, and Jury members were introduced to the audience.

Award Ceremony

Over 1,700 guests attended the Award Ceremony that was held at Meiji Shrine on July 2. Jury members announced the award-winning films and presented the awards to the filmmakers. An exciting performance by the dance unit "STRIPES" who appeared in Takeshi Kitano's "ZATOICHI" wowed the audience. In addition, for SSFF & ASIA 2008, the establishment of a new competition, the "STOP! Global Warming Competition" was announced and the President of the Ministry of Environment, Mr. Masatoshi Wakabayashi gave a message of support to the festival.

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Jury

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Awards