LEXUS SHORT FILMS

INTERSECT BY LEXUS - TOKYOAccess

LEXUS SHORT FILMS

Lexus is committed to product innovation and design. Equally important is our focus on supporting young artists to develop their ideas and creativity. Through the short films project, Lexus aims to support up and coming filmmakers to create world class films that stimulate viewers.

Live Recording Events with Tetsuya Bessho

During the festival period (June 4 ~ June 15), LEXUS SHORT FILMS will be screening at INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO in Aoyama. The films will be shown alongside various other short film gems selected around the theme “Stimulate the Senses” by founder of SSFF & ASIA, Tetsuya Bessho.

6/6
SAT

TALK SESSION / June 6 SAT 20:30 - 21:30

Guest: LiLiCo
MC: Tetsuya Bessho
Venue: INTERSECT BY LEXUS-TOKYO

6/8
MON

TALK SESSION / June 8 MON 18:30 - 19:30

Guest: Jung Woo Sung
MC: Tetsuya Bessho
Venue: INTERSECT BY LEXUS-TOKYO

Guest Profile

LiLiCo
Festival Ambassador
LiLiCo was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Swedish father and Japanese mother. In 1989, at the age of 18, LiLiCo came to Japan and began working in the entertainment industry. She now appears as a film commentator on TBS's 'King's Brunch,' MCs film and fashion events, and makes numerous appearances on talk shows and radio programs. She is also active in many other fields, and provided the Japanese voiceover for a key character in "South Park."

Jung Woo Sung
Actor / Film Director
Born in 1973. He made his film debut with the 1994 movie "The Fox with Nine Tails," and found fame as talented young actor though his roles in "Beat" (1997) and "City of the Rising Sun" (1998). He has played various characters in a number of films including "Phantom," "The Submarine" (1999), "The Warriors" (2001), "Mutt Boy" (2003), "A Moment to Remember" (2005), "Sad Movie" (2005), "Daisy" (2005), "The Good, The Bad, The Weird" (2008), and "Reign of Assassins" (2010). He recently enjoyed renewed popularity for his charismatic acting in "Cold Eyes" (2013), and took on an action role for "The Divine Move" in 2014. The 2014 melodrama "Scarlet Innocence" marked a shocking departure from his previous image, and he served as a lead actor and producer for "Remember O Goddess" (2014), thereby expanding his film career into directing and producing.

Tetsuya Bessho
Actor / President of Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia
Tetsuya Bessho debuted in Hollywood in 1990 with the US-Japan joint film "Solar Crisis." In recent years, he has performed in stage productions of "Les Miserables," "Nine the Musical," and "Urinetown." In 2010, he received the Iwatani Tokiko Award Encouragement Prize from the Iwatani Tokiko Foundation. He founded Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in 1999, which he remains the president of, and received an award from the chief of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. He has also assumed the position of "Visit Japan Ambassador," part of the Japan Tourism Agency initiative, and is a member of the expert panel to strengthen content at the Cabinet Secretariat’ s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, Goodwill Ambassador to the Qatar Friendship Fund, City of Yokohama Committee Member, and EIRN(film classification and rating committee)commission of councilor.

Bessho will also host two talk events at INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO – with film commentator LiLiCo on June 6 (Sat) and Korean actor Jung Woo Sung on June 8 (Mon). together they will discuss the film festival, the future of short film, and support networks for up-and-coming directors. Both events will be recorded live.

You will find it

Jessie De Leeuw / Belgium / musical / 2011 / 17:00

The life of Cilia quietly passes by behind the checkout of mini-supermarket. Cilia secretly is a master of escapism, though. In her dreams she escapes from the dull reality and she creates a colorful, musical world. One day a handsome guy called Jef is standing at the checkout.

Director : Jessie De Leeuw

Jessie De Leeuw is a former student of the Royal Arts Academy in Ghent, where she earned her Masters Degree with Distinction in 2011. She submitted the short film ‘You will find it’ as her final work for her Masters degree. Between tackling freelance directing assignments and creating music videos, Jessie is currently preparing for her next film project.

International Shortfilmfestival Leuven 2011 (Belgium)
HUMO Awar Brussels Short Film Festival 2012 (Belgium)

Specky four-eyes

Jean-Claude Rozec / France / Animetion / 2010 / 9:00

As shortsighted Arnaud removes his ugly glasses, monsters and unicorns appear and disappear. It is this freely changing world that he sees. Winning awards at many film festivals, this is a fantastic animation.

Director : Jean-Claude Rozec

Jean-Claude is a director and animator who has worked on many films. He began by making animations with his friends from his student days. His talents have bloomed in is this film, which has been a success at international film festivals.

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2012

LEXUS SHORT FILMS　2014

Operation Barn Owl

Director & Co-writer: Satsuki Okawa / Co-writer: Ken Ochiai / USA / Drama / 2014 / 13:45

Ellen's best friend Jonah wants to create a unique and picturesque proposal to his girlfriend. Banding together with a group of friends, Ellen works diligently to ensure that the meticulously planned show of affection goes off without a hitch, but issues arise along the way. Ellen must overcome her feelings for Jonah and any past promises they made to each other for the proposal to go as planned.

Director & Co-writer : Satsuki Okawa

Born in Tokyo, Satsuki earned her BA from Nihon University College of Arts and went on to graduate with an MFA from Columbia University in New York. Upon her graduation from Columbia, she directed several short films including "Koyuki’s Wandering Football", which was commissioned for the Japanese Professional Football League as the J-league’s 20 year anniversary project. Last year’s Yubari favorite "Little Kyota Neon Hood" went on to gain acclaim on the international film festival circuit. The film not only won numerous awards domestically, but internationally.

Co-writer : Ken Ochiai

Ochiai made his first film at age 12 and left Tokyo after high school to pursue his dream of becoming a film director in the United States. After receiving a B.A. in production from the U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts, he earned his M.F.A. from the American Film Institute Conservatory. To date, Ochiai has made more than 30 short films, commercials, and music videos, as well as three feature films. Of these, "Frog in the Well" won the Crystal Award at the Heartland Film Festival, and "Miyuki's Wind Bell" won the Sapporo Peace Award at the Sapporo Short Fest.

The Gunfighter

Eric Kissack / USA / Comedy / 2014 / 9:00

In the tradition of classic westerns, a narrator sets up the story of a lone gunslinger who walks into a saloon. However, the people in this saloon can hear the narrator and the narrator may just be a little bit bloodthirsty.

Director : Eric Kissack

Eric Kissack spent 10 years working as a feature film editor in NY and LA. In 2013,his short film “Blessing in Disguise” premiered at the Palm Springs Short Fest and went on to win several awards on the festival circuit. He is now hooked on directing and not looking back.

Palm Springs International Short Film Festival 2014 (USA)
Audience Award Seattle International Film Festival 2014 (USA)

Rhino Full Throttle

Erik Schmitt / Germany / Drama / 2013 / 14:59

Bruno is making his way through the city searching for its soul. Driven by his curiosity, a challenging imagination and his wild reflection on reality, he is lifting the old dusty curtain on the city's crusted perception. Bruno collects patterns, spaces and surfaces, showing us the city we have never seen.

Director : Erik Schmitt

Born in 1980 in Mainz. He quickly started to study the many forms of communication in Geneva, Munich and Melbourne but was successfully lured into the capital where he completed his studies of communication sciences. At some point he learned to use the camera not only as walking stick, and started KAMERAPFERD together with Stephan Müller.

Berlin International Film Festival 2013 (Germany)
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival 2013 (USA)
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2014 Best Short Award (International Competition)

Helium

Anders Walter / Denmark / Drama / 2013 / 23:00

Alfred is dying, but through stories about HELIUM – a fantasy world where people go for "deep sleep” – told by the hospital janitor, Enzo, he regains the joy of life. When Alfred’s state worsens and he’s transferred to a closed unit, Enzo sneaks in to tell the last of the stories.

Director : Anders Walter

Helium is Anders Walter's third short film and apart from his 3 short films, Den Talende Kuffert, 9 Meter and Helium, Anders has created multiple music videos and has published two of his own graphic novels - SOLAS 1&2.

The 86th (2014) Academy Awards® Winner for Best Short (Live Action)
Tribeca Film Festival 2014 (USA)

LEXUS SHORT FILMS　2014

Market Hours

Jon Goldman / USA / Drama /2014 / 14:11

Randall spends his days imagining the vibrant inner lives of various vendors at the multicultural urban market where he works: none more so than Angela, an angel with her own pastry shop. But Randall’s inattention to his work has lead to a string of thefts and soon threatens to cost him his job. A chance encounter with a beautiful starlet and her lapdog provides Randall not only an opportunity to break the ice with Angela, but a chance to prove his worth to everyone at the market – including himself.

Director : Jon Goldman

Born in Boulder, Colorado, Goldman spent several years of his adolescence in Paris, acquiring an early taste for world cinema, foreign languages, and international stories. After attending Stanford University and receiving a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing, he received accolades for his short film "Diplomacy." A wry take on the power of interpreters in top-level negotiations between the United States and Iran, it played at over two dozen film festivals worldwide. Goldman was selected to participate in both the Film Independent Directing Lab and Film Independent Screenwriting Lab, and was previously both an Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science Nicholl Fellowship Finalist.

INTERSECT BY LEXUS - TOKYO

ADDRESS
4-21-26 Minemi Aoyama, Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0062

ACCESS
from Exit A4/A5, Omotesando Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Chiyoda Line,Hanzomon Line)