Neo Japan Program
Neo Japan Program
Rise of the Japanese Creative Spirit! Brand-new category; "NEO Japan"
As the number of Japanese submissions has risen over the years, the festival committee also came to realize an increasing level of quality in those films. It is always a hard decision to make when it came to select nominees for the festival. However, one of our goals is to provide more opportunities for as many Japanese filmmakers as possible to showcase their short films.
This year, the festival will host the new program “NEO Japan" as a non-competition category to introduce talented Japanese filmmakers and their films. In addition, as special screenings, the program will present two Japanese maestro filmmakers, Naomi Kawase and Takashi Miike, with their early works, and the latest film from Satoshi Yamaguchi whose film “An Electric Fan of Grandma" won the Best Short Award last year.
Neo Japan Program -A
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Walk With Her
Yoshiki Uematsu / 16:24 / Drama / Japan / 2007
One early morning while everyone is still in bed, a father goes out in his wheelchair. His behavior is rather mysterious and we do not know where he is headed. He finds a flower garden and makes a decoration, he enters the woman's washroom, he muses at one elementary school, and then suddenly he erupts in joy. What does he want?
The Revenger
Ayumu Oda / 24:00 / ドラマ / Japan / 2007 / 
The time is near future in 2061. A strange virus has spread following an explosion at a military-operated chemical lab. Some who were infected have become mutants who suck the blood of living people. In this dangerous age, Tajio, a boy with excellent kung-fu skills, starts on his journey in search of his father's killer. One day, he is saved by a beautiful sword fighter girl named Mifuyu.
Summer Homework
Emiko Hikita / 8:00 / Comedy / Japan / 2007
Elena, an eight-year-old girl has just one day left of her summer holiday, and she still hasn't finished her homework. Her homework is to DO something to save the Earth! She gets an idea from the news on TV on the last day of the holiday, but to complete her homework, she has to go to a farm. She can't go alone, she needs someone's help, but there is no one home but her strange grandpa. Can the two successfully finish her homework?
Perspective
Takayuki Kagawa / 24:45 / Drama / Japan / 2007 /
A father is eating the last dinner in the room which put the "white line" which signify dead person. Outside there are detectives and reporters. Everybody need a 'reason'. Howver in this room, there is no relation between victim and perpetrator. When they realize the mistake, they wish the miracle.
Shadow
Naomi Kawase / 26:00 / Drama / Japan / 2004
No planning, no script. Just time, space, the actress and the photographer. And a third person watching the proceedings. No one knows what will happen next. A story just like life.
Neo Japan Program -B
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Traces
Satoshi Murakami / 9:13 / Drama / Japan / 2007
In the vast stretch of empty desert, a man and a woman continue to walk, all for the purpose of seeing a "thing" for themselves. Rambling on, they climb to the top of a sand hill to see a huge expanse of blue sea looming before their eyes. There they find the "thing" they were looking for, and gazing out at the calm sea, they begin to talk about their inner thoughts.
M.O.-105 Maria
Secky Chang / 24:47 / Drama / Japan / 2007
In the year 2104, the Earth is devastated by a worldwide nuclear war, and mankind is destroyed. 28 years later, Maria, an android, wakes up in a desertified land. Alone in the desert, she calmly executes her duties, stopping from time to time to confirm her memory visions of the times spent with her family...until finally, without noticing, Maria begins to feel emotions.
SNOWMAN THEORY
Eiji Shimada / 10:00 / Comedy / Japan / 2007
A mockumentary of a self-styled scientist Henry Richardson. Can a man become a snowball? Richardson’s been obsessed by this concept for a long time. In his
experiment, he finds a positive relationship between people and snow in northern districts.
KAGE
Takeshi Maya / 24:55 / Action / Japan / 2007 /
A long time ago, there were a secret sect of spy soldiers who fought civil wars to support their powerful samurai masters in Japan. They had to prerate infognito and live as mercenaries. This is a story about warriors who would sacrifice their lives for those whom they love even if its meants death, brave warriors with an dndying fighting spirit for a noble cause.
KEIKO IS
Yuji Miyake / 8:30 / Animation / Japan / 2007
The paper-cutting animation "KEIKO IS" tells the story about the relationship between a mother and daughter. Kieko's mother boasts her daughter like "jewelry" which leads Keiko to be hurt by her mothers attitude. Parents should love their children unconditionally, but her mother satisfies her own desires by priding her daughter as an excellent student.
UFO Restaurant
Satoshi Yamaguchi / 30:00 / Drama / / 2007
A high school girl, Yu Ueto, lives in a rural town where a number of UFOs are sighted. She wants to leave her hometown and go to a university in Tokyo, but she is worried about “UFO Shokudo”, the restaurant owned by her family. One day, as her entrance exam draws near, she decides to find someone to work part-time to help at the restaurant in her place.
Neo Japan Program -C
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Sit Down! Sit Down!
Rumi Sasada / 22:00 / Comedy / Japan / 2007
"But I didn't do it!" One afternoon, in the office of a supermarket, a woman accused of shoplifting is questioned by the store manager and security guard. The woman adamantly denies the charge, but when the manager tells her he is calling the police, she breaks down in tears, and the story begins to take a surprising turn...
AFTER SCHOOL MIDNIGHT
Hitoshi Takekiyo / 7:00 / Animation / Japan / 2007
The leading character, Mokkun, is a hot-blooded "anatomical model" in a science classroom. He spends his days in boredom standing still in a glass case, but once the sound of the bell notifies the end of class and darkness falls all around, fun starts for Mokkun and the classroom becomes a stage for his showtime! A slapstick comedy about a nighttime battle between a science freak and an art freak at the Saint Bicchi Elementary School. "After School Midnight". Can't wait for the night to come...Wish the day would never come...
Solarman
Yujiro Taniyama / 24:50 / Experimental / Japan / 2007
In the year 2028A.D, the earth is "boiling".
UN secretary-general, Hilary-Obama-Schwarznegger finally decides to send the invincible Spy-Agent "Solarman" back 20 years ago in order to stop global warming. His mission is to reduce the amount of energy consumption by 50%, and if he fails he has to harakiri his beer belly...
UN secretary-general, Hilary-Obama-Schwarznegger finally decides to send the invincible Spy-Agent "Solarman" back 20 years ago in order to stop global warming. His mission is to reduce the amount of energy consumption by 50%, and if he fails he has to harakiri his beer belly...
Eating People
Hiroyuki Nishikawa / 3:00 / Comedy / Japan / 2006
At a restaurant, a customer falls unconscious after eating a meat dish. However waiters are calm and casually carry him away. A few days later, a policeman comes to the restaurant and posts a missing person flyer on the store's wall. The face in the picture was that of the customer who fell unconscious. A few months later, the restaurant's wall is covered with flyers. The restaurant was drugging their food, putting the customers to sleep and slaughtering them, so that they could recycle the meat as an ingredient for their specialty meat dish.
cable
Ryo Shimizu / 22:50 / Drama / Japan / 2007 /
Cables are a tool to link people together, allowing them to share their memories with each other. Girls who meet through the internet implant cables into their arms, but all they saw in the memory of their partner was the harsh reality. This is a film depicting the modern man who while wanting to connect with others, are afraid and cannot be straightforward about their feelings.
Keiu Matsuo and his Mother
Takashi Miike / 30:00 / Animation / Japan / 2006
May 31, 1942, four Imperial Japanese navy midget submarines entered Sydney Harbor on a mission to sink Allied shipping there. Surrounded by Australian attacks, the crewmembers of the submarines, including one commanded by Lt Keiu Matsuo did not surrender but committed suicide. Lt Matsuo’s body was cremated with full naval honors from Australian military with respect to his courage as soldier. As a symbol of friendship between Japan and Australia, his mother visited the Australian War Memorial in 1968.
Please note that guests and program contents are subject to change without notice and tickets are not refundable.
