Online Talk Event Which Explores Upcoming Trends in the Creative Visual Industry with the New Generation of Creators

TOKYO, Sept. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2020 (SSFF & Asia), Academy Awards® accredited & Asia's biggest international short film festival (starts Wed, 09/16 thru Sunday 09/27), together with Sony & Sony Mobile Communications, to bring to life the dreams of creators around the world will hold an online talk show event on YouTube, the Creators' Junction partnered with Xperia™, to explore upcoming trends in the creative visual industry with the new generation of creators on Monday, 09/28.     *The event will be pre-recorded.

The event will be moderated by festival president Tetsuya Bessho along with filmmaker / photographer Naomi Kawase (Suzaku, Still Water, Sweet Bean). Special guest will be Daiki Tsuneta of King Gnu / millennium parade. The theme of the talk show will center on the rapid development of the use of Smartphone in film production. The three panelists will discuss the possibilities through their roles as film festival president, filmmaker & artist / musician. Also planned for discussion will be the evolution & changes in film production & industry in the "new normal" of the Coronavirus era. In addition, ideas will be discussed regarding submissions to the film festival in 2021 which opened last month for the Official Competition supported by Sony & the Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony.

The talk event will be full of content aimed towards the future creators & trend-setters in visual entertainment.

＜Outline: 【Creators' Junction partnered with Xperia™】 ＞
The visual entertainment industry is going through major changes. In this regard, the discussion will be with & for the new generation of creators. Also, Smartphone have transformed to become a device for watching content to creating content. SSFF & ASIA which provides possibilities to a borderless world along with Sony, a creative entertainment company, Sony will explore along with the special guests, ideas for inspiration & visual production.     

DATE: Monday, 09/28/2020  TIME: Starts 20:00
LINE-UP: Filmmaker / Photographer Naomi Kawase, 
                Artist  / Musician Daiki Tsuneta (King Gnu / millennium parade) &
                SSFF & ASIA president Tetsuya Bessho.
Online viewing site: https://www.youtube.com/SonyXperia
Creators' Junction partnered with Xperia™ - Website: https://www.shortshorts.org/sony/creatorsjunction/

Naomi Kawase
Born and raised in Nara, Kawase graduated from Visual Arts Osaka in 1989. Her films, 'Embracing' and 'KATATSUMORI' received international recognitions and awards at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1995. With her first feature, SUZAKU (1997), she became the youngest filmmaker to receive the Camera d'Or at the Festival de Cannes with her. At the Festival de Cannes, she has also won the Grand Prix with The Mourning Forest /MOGARI (2007), the Carrosse d'Or in 2009, and also served as one of the jurors for the competition in 2013. In 2015, KAWASE was bestowed with the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture. In 2017, "Hikari"(RADIANCE) was selected as one of the competition films and given Ecumenical Jury awards. She was appointed to direct the Official Film of the Olympics Game Tokyo 2020. Her latest film, 'True Mothers', was a Cannes 2020 Official Selection, and is scheduled to open in Japan on October 23 before its international release. She was named as producer & senior advisor for the Expo 2025 Osaka  Aside from being a filmmaker, she is the founder and Executive Director for the Nara International Film Festival. Instagram @naomi.kawase

Daiki Tsuneta
Active as a Japanese artist/musician that absorbs different art & culture in various projects & groups; King Gnu, millennium parade, & PERIMETRON. Attended Tokyo Art University & was a cellist in Seiji Ozawa Music Academy. After professionally taking up music, made appearances at SXSW 2017, the Fuji Rock Festival, Green Room Festival, & Mutek. His wide-ranging work includes music director for films as well as for Adidas, Dior, New BalanceXChari CO., Beams, NumeroXEmporio Armani as well as producing the music for NY Collection's N. Hollywood fashion show.

Tetsuya Bessho
Made his Hollywood debut with the Japanese-American produced 1990 SF film "Solar Crisis." Since, ha has worked in a wide range of areas including films, TV drams, stage musicals, & radio. On stage he has starred in Les Misérables & Miss Saigon among others. He established the first international short film festival in Japan in 1990 with the Short Shorts Film Festival & was awarded by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. He was named as ambassador for the Japan Tourism Agency project "Visit Japan." Member of the Film Ethics Committee. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Japan House," Expert Advisory Council member. Named as a leading Japanese most active in promoting Japan to the world by the Cabinet Office. Received the 1st Tokiko Iwatani Award for a person of cultural merit. Received the 63rd Yokohama Culture Award.

Background of the SSFF & ASIA
Actor and member of the US Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Tetsuya Bessho founded the festival in 1999, with the aim of introducing Japanese audiences to short films – a format that many people in Japan were unfamiliar with. In 2001, the festival became officially known as Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF), and was officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences®.  In the same year, Short Shorts Film Festival Asia (SSFF ASIA) was established with support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2004, to introduce new Asian video culture and to nurture young filmmaking talents from the region.

Today the festival is know as SSFF & ASIA.  In 2018, commemorating the 20th Annual festival, the Grand Prix prize was renamed, the George Lucas Award. In January 2019, we held our first "SSFF in Hollywood" as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations and winner of the SSFF Audience Award in 2001, director Jason Reitman was sent an Honorary Award.

Also from 2019, a total of 4 winners from the Official Competition (International Category, International  Asia Category, Japan Category) and the Non-Fiction Category, would be eligible for nomination to the Academy Awards.

SSFF & ASIA continue to support young filmmakers through this festival.

Webpage: https://www.shortshorts.org/en

Press Inquiry

PR: Fuyumi Tanaka, Committee for Short Shorts TEL：+81-3-5474-8201 E-mail: [email protected]

Stills are available here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10fynBZQygZUt4fUF6fzEutXtcNyUeBds?usp=sharing  

SOURCE Short Shorts Film Festival

Related Links

https://www.shortshorts.org/en/