Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia　Let's travel ! Japan Project

Short film Archive 2011

The festival, along with the Japan Tourism Agency, established a new competition titled the "Lets' Travel! Project" in 2009.This project, as one element of the drive to increase travel and tourism in Japan and to show the allure of Japan, called for submissions of short films with the themes; "it's great to travel," "I want to travel," and" I want to travel to Japan." As a result, 71 shorts were submitted out of which 9 were selected. From as far north as Hokkaido to the southern reaches of Okinawa, we presented short films that depict the appeal of traveling and the rich and diverse cultural attractions of Japan. In this year's submission, 7 out of 86 shorts were selected in the competition. Also under the framework of this project, a new "Japan – Korea Tourism Promotion" was established, and two shorts films were made in both countries. "Super Star"(starring Atsuko Sakurai and Eung-soo Kim) was shot entirely in Seoul with a Japanese director, and "Smile Bus" (starring Gun-hyung Park, Hyun-kyung Ryu and Yohji Tanaka) was shot in locations of Kamakura and Fujisawa Cities, with a Korean director. We had world premieres of these films at the festival in June.

TOURISM HOKKAIDO "City"

Yosuke Yamaguchi / Japan / 18:12 / Drama / 2010 / Otaru-shi & Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido

A foreign exchange student is leaving Sapporo. She meets a boy and goes on her last bicycle trip around Sapporo with him. He falls in love with her, but she leaves without giving him her number. They meet again in Otaru where he finds out the bittersweet truth.

Lie -wafer moon-

Hideki Kato / Japan / 13:40 / Drama / 2010 / Tokyo, Fukushima

There are times when you get sad because you cannot tell the truth. But sometimes it's worse if you tell the truth. This is a story about a big brother's lie and his mother's lie when the truth is too sad to share.

Atsuizo! Kumagaya

Hiroya Taka / Japan / 17:01 / Adventure / 2010 / Kumagaya-shi, Saitama

Taro, a boy from the Kumagai Family takes his dog Musashi and goes to play with his friends. The story begins with "Musashi has run away!" The search involves the family, the neighbours, and eventually the whole city of Kumagaya.

A Sense of Onomichi

Linda Ohama / Japan / Canada / 20:00 / Documentary / 2007 / Onomichi-shi, Hiroshima

Onomichi has deep traditions and history. It's an important and natural part of daily life that binds the people, families, and communities together. Towns like Onomichi that have a strong connection with the past and the present, help us move into the future with strength, humility, and hope.

Ane Mone

Ozzy / Japan / 8:54 / Drama / 2009 / Otaru-shi, Hokkaido

Asako is surprised by a sudden confession from a childhood friend that he was in love with her but she's not sure how she feels. In that state-of-mind she comes across a picture of Otaru where she used to live. She decides to take a trip to Otaru to discover herself again.

Tokyo Tower Neo #1

Tsutomu Matsuda / Japan / 20:00 / Documentary / 2010 / Tokyo

On a whim, a photographer walks towards the New Tokyo Tower during its construction. He meets a girl working at a food vendor at the site. Through their short encounter he finds "hope".

All Paths Lead Home

Yuki Ito / Japan / 18:28 / Drama / 2010 / Yanagawa-shi, Fukuoka

Rinko is a 16-year-old senior high-school student. She lives happily with her mother in Yanagawa City, Fukuoka, but she longs to live in Tokyo. One day Rinko encounters a boy and his strange behavior starts to change her life.

As one element of the drive to increase travel and tourism in both Japan and Korea, and to show the allure of both countries, we created two films with young Japanese and Korean directors. One of the films, called "Super Star," was shot in Korea by a Japanese director and actors, and the other, "Smile Bus," was shot in Japan by a Korean director and actors. We hope you enjoy the different viewpoints that can be seen in these travels to Seoul in Korea and the Kamakura-Fujisawa-Enoshima area in Japan.

Super Star

Kentaro Hagiwara / Japan / 18:50 / Drama / 2011 / Seoul City, South Korea

When Toshiko's (Atsuko Sakurai) dream of meeting her favourtie Koren idol comes true, the last thing she wants to do is be late for the fan event in which he plans to attend. Looking for the fastest way to the venue, she jumps into a yellow car only to be confronted by its grumpy driver Park (Eung-soo Kim), who leaves her wondering if she will ever make it there on time…

Smile Bus

Sang-joon Park / Japan / 22:52 / Drama / 2011 / Fujisawa-shi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa

One day a young Korean girl, Yuna (Hyun-kyoung Ryu), decides to pack up and leave, she heads for Japan where she takes a job as a tour guide for visiting Koreans to Japan, Hot on her trail is her ex boyfriend Sang-ho (Gun-hyung Park) who follows her to Japan in order to win the still confused Yuna back, but will she get back with him? "Smile Bus" is a comtempory re-working of the classic Kamakura and Enoshima love story.