American Short Shorts Film Festival 2001

[Singapore]

E! Entertainment Television features ASSFF Singapore screenings!

E! Entertainment Television, (a major US cable TV channel specializing in entertainment news,) flew a team to Singapore to cover the ASSFF screenings there, the first screenings outside Japan since the festival's birth three years ago. The story will air on the July 31 edition of "FYE," a weekly entertainment news program. The American Short Shorts Film Festival is receiving attention in the US as well as in Japan.
The festival will continue to expand its horizons and borders even farther next year!

[Tokyo]

2001 Audience Award announced!

At the Tokyo screenings between June 1 and June 5, the festival drew 5,721 attendees-a record high for the Tokyo festival!

For the first time in its 3-year history, the festival introduced the "Audience Award" which allows audience members to select what they think is the best film in the festival. Audiences were asked to vote for their favorite film after each of the programs. Some audience members kindly wrote comments about the films on their voting paper!

2001 Audience Award

1st
title : "In God We Trust"
director : Jason Reitman

The winning filmmaker was awarded 100,000 Japanese yen.

[all locations]

2001 Special Jury Award

An award new to the third edition of the film festival is the "Special Jury Award."
The five jurors who selected the award-winning film were (in Japanese alphabetical order): actress Yuki Amami, director Keiko Ibi whose short film won an Academy Award, producer Shinya Kawai, talent KONISHIKI, and novelist Ryu Murakami.

2001 Special Jury Award

title : "Pillowfight"
director : Scott Rice
evaluation : Jurors were impressed by the filmmaker's ability to make such simple story-telling so entertaining.

The winning filmmaker was awarded 150,000 Japanese yen.

Below are the overall comments from each juror:

*Yuki Amami (actress)
I found most of the films very moving, and it was very difficult to rate one higher than another.

*Keiko Ibi (Academy Award winning director)
I'd like to say thank you for this wonderful opportunity to see such a great variety of quality films.
Short films are very powerful instruments for showing slices of daily events from a fresh point of view. Love, cynicism, humour and torment… whatever the theme, each film had its own message. Praise to all the filmmakers and their incredible imaginations!

*Shinya Kawai (producer)
As a full-length film producer, I do not often get to see the kind of concentrated zest that all of these films have.
Since I personally prefer comedy, I gave the humorous and witty films higher points. I gave "Pillowfight" the highest rating because as a man who had a similar experience of newly-wed life a long time ago, I could sympathise with the film. I could see the fun that is unique to short films in almost all of the selections.

*Ryu Murakami (novelist)
I was surprised by the films' level of the technology and sparkling ideas.
All the films were very original. The difference in ratings is simply due to my personal taste.

*KONISHIKI (talent)
It is amazing that a filmmaker is able to make a film as funny as "Pillowfight" when the set is limited solely to a bed. It captures the audiences' heart perfectly. It looks simple, but it is fully thought through.

[all locations]

2001 American Short Shorts Award

The American Short Shorts Film Festival has reached its third birthday this year.
Every year, the Japanese and American committee members select one film to present with the "American Short Shorts Award." Through a rigorous selection process, one film was chosen for the award from this year's screenings.

2001　American Short Shorts Award

title : "Delusions in Modern Primitivism"
director : Daniel Loflin
evaluation : Its unique "mocumentary" style and its realistic visual images were highly evaluated.

The filmmaker was awarded 250,000 Japanese yen and 3,200ft of 35mm color film from Kodak.

[TOKYO]

Latest News!!
"BEAN CAKE" will be shown at the American Short Shorts Film Festival!!!

"BEAN CAKE", directed by David Greenspan will be shown at this year's American Short Shorts Film Festival.
"BEAN CAKE" won the 54th Palm d'Or at Cannes International Film Festival in the short film category.Director David Greenspan will visit Japan to attend American Short Shorts. He will appear as a guest panel speaker at the talk event on Monday June 4.

"BEAN CAKE" screenings are scheduled as follows:

Talk Event B : Monday June 4 (11:30am - 13:20pm)
"Film vs Digital" --- the future of visual images and the technology development ---
"Tim Burton's short films and LEGO-MATION"
*"BEAN CAKE" will be screened during the talk event. Director David Greenspan will join as the panel guest!
*Tickets for Talk Event B are available at the door at 1,800yen on the day of the event.

Tuesday June 5 "BEAN CAKE" special screenings day
"BEAN CAKE" will screen at the end of each program on June 5:
11:30 - 13:20　Program　C
13:50 - 15:40　Program　D
16:10 - 18:00　Program　E
18:30 - 20:20　Program　I

[All Locations]

ASSSFF supports Japanese filmmakers through "Japan Short Shorts"

Since its first edition in 1999, the American Short Shorts Film Festival has introduced many talented American filmmakers to Japanese audiences.
The festival has attracted thousands of Japanese fans, and it has established itself as the only showcase exclusively for short films in Japan. In the festival's inaugural year, audiences had their first opportunity to see how young filmmakers break into the Hollywood film industry by expressing their own visions of the world in short films.
By its second year, the festival had established short films in Japan as more than resume-builders for filmmakers, but rather as a new genre of entertainment. Festival organizers are proud and excited that the third edition of American Short Shorts will present the visions of the next generation of Japanese storytellers in "Japan Short Shorts."
For the first time, Japanese shorts will screen at the start of the American programs-eight Japanese films in total. We hope that this new category will encourage cultural exchange between filmmakers and film fans in Japan and the US.
The "Japan Short Shorts" were selected from films that were submitted in response to the festival's public call for entries. Anyone could enter a film regardless of age, sex and nationality. We hope you enjoy our selection of Japanese shorts, and who knows, maybe your short film will be presented in "Japan Short Shorts" next year!

[All Locations]

Discussion panels with invited filmmakers

Each year, the American Short Shorts Film Festival invites 10-15 filmmakers from the United States to join us in Tokyo.
The festival organizes discussion panels where the visiting filmmakers talk with the audience about their experiences in short filmmaking.
The opportunity to interact with young directors and producers draws many Japanese students who wish to work in visually creative fields to the events.
The theme for the discussion panels this year is "Film vs Digital." Filmmakers will share their opinions about what will become of analog film technology and if digital media will overtake good-old film in the wake of the on-going explosion of digital technology.
The festival also offers the American filmmakers and the Japanese guest-speakers, usually established filmmakers themselves, an opportunity to exchange ideas and to share their mutual interests.

[All Locations]

Tim Burton and George Lucas endorse American Short Shorts

Since the first edition of American Short Shorts in 1999, George Lucas has supported our festival.
We began our tradition of presenting short films by renowned directors in 1999 when we screened Mr. Lucas' early shorts. In 2000 we continued the tradition with Martin Scorsese's short films. This year, we are proud to present two of Tim Burton's short films: "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie." It is indeed a treat for us to see that these virtuosos took their first steps in modern cinema by making short films.
Please check out the letter from Mr. George Lucas in support of the 2001 festival!

[All Locations]

Audience Choice and Jury Awards

In addition to our annual American Short Shorts Award, the festival will present an Audience Award and a Jury Award this year, with the support of the Japan-US Visual Media Culture Foundation.
Our jurors for the Jury Award include (in alphabetical order) actress Yuki Amami who was also a former Takarazuka star, Academy Award-winning short film director Keiko Ibi (The Personals) who attended our festival last year, film producer Shinya Kawai (Swallow Tail), former Sumo wrestler and now a TV personality, KONISHIKI and novelist Ryu Murakami (Almost Transparent Blue).
Audiences in Harajuku can vote for their favorite short at the festival for the Audience Award. The winner will be announced on our website after the Tokyo leg of the festival.
The prizes to be awarded are 250,000 yen for the American Short Shorts Award, 150,000 yen for the Jury Award and 150,000 yen for the Audience Award. In addition to the prize money, 30-minutes (3200 feet) of 35mm color film will be presented with the support of Kodak as part of the American Short Shorts Award.

[All Locations]

Festival goes over the airways

Fans of American Short Shorts who won't be able to attend the event can still enjoy and the festival and the world of short films through satellite television, on Perfect Choice (SKY PerfecTV! / 21ch of Ch.110-122,142-147)
Perfect Choice will present a pay-per-view program in May entitled *"American Short Shorts No Miryoku: Kaisaimae PPV Special" (Wonders of American Short Shorts: Pre-event PPV Special), which will include 5 short films that were presented in the previous editions of American Short Shorts. This 90-minute program will also feature previews of the upcoming festival.
Scheduled Air dates: May 25th, May 26th and May 27th at 21:00 / 22:30 / 2400 and June 15th , June 16th and 17th at 20:30
PPV charge: 600 yen (you can view the repeats in the same day.)
*Copy guard included

Another post-festival program entitled *"American Short Shorts Film Festival 2001- PPV Special Digest" (The title is subjected to change) will air in July. The program will cover the making of the festival and feature select films from the 2001 festival. The exact dates of the program will be announced soon on the festival website.
Air dates: July 20th, July 21st and July 22nd at 21:00
PPV charge: 800 yen (you can view the repeats in the same day.)
*Copy guard included

[All Locations]	Festival goes overseas
During the American Short Shorts National Tour (Nagoya, Sapporo, Okinawa and Matsumoto), the Japan-born festival will also travel to Singapore for the first time with the support of the Singapore Film Commission (July 11th to 14th). To further the new exchange with Singapore, we are pleased to present a Singaporean short film in our International Program.