Specially produced short film "Samurai Swordfish" has also been completed.
TOKYO, May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Tetsuya Bessho, president of Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA), one of Asia’s largest international short film festivals accredited by the Academy Awards®︎, paid a courtesy visit to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on May 23, 2022.
Governor Koike said, "Continuity is strength. It is wonderful that we are celebrating the 24th anniversary this year. In addition, this festival has become more & more well-known each year, and the number of people taking on new challenges has increased. Films enrich us, make us think, and give us opportunities. Feature films are interesting, but there are parts that are interesting only because they are short," she praised and talked about the appeal of short films.
During the courtesy call, Governor Koike announced the outstanding short films in the Cinematic Tokyo Competition, a collaboration between SSFF & ASIA and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to promote the diverse attractions of Tokyo by inviting short films from around the world with the theme "Tokyo." This year, 257 submissions were received from the world, and the winner of the Cinematic Tokyo Best Short Award (Governor of Tokyo Award) was "Tokyo Rain," directed by Michel Wilde & Robert Schneider of Switzerland.
Bessho also announced the completion of "Samurai Swordfish," a short film from the "Cinema Sports Project," which creates original short films that express the vibrancy of Tokyo, where international sporting events are held, and make people want to visit the places. The cast included Marty Friedman, Keiichi Kimura and Takayuki Suzuki, gold medalists in the 2020 Para Swimming Championships as cameo appearances.
After the courtesy visit, Bessho commented, "This year, we have decided to hold a full-fledged hybrid of live and online events. In an age where online and real life are overlapping, what kind of visual communication can we have as a film festival in the 21st century? I would like to communicate the power of films and images to everyone while making full use of the online platform," he said, expressing his enthusiasm for the festival.
SSFF & ASIA has co-sponsored the Cinematic Tokyo Competition since 2016 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a competition to promote the "Tokyo Brand," a tourism policy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Tokyo Rain" can already be viewed online at https://shortshorts.org/2022/en/program/tokyo/tokyo-rain/, and "Samurai Swordfish" will be available on YouTube (https://youtu.be/D2Tsiy-h81c) from today.
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SOURCE Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia
