SHORTSHORTS

Background　of the SSFF & ASIA
Actor and member of the US Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Tetsuya Bessho founded the festival in 1999, with the aim of introducing Japanese audiences to short films ? a format that many people in Japan were unfamiliar with. In 2001, the festival became officially known as Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF), and was officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences®. In the same year, Short Shorts Film Festival Asia (SSFF ASIA) was established with support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2004, to introduce new Asian video culture and to nurture young filmmaking talents from the region.
　Today the festival is know as SSFF & ASIA. In 2018, commemorating the 20th Annual festival, the Grand Prix prize was renamed, the George Lucas Award. In January 2019, we held our first “SSFF in Hollywood” as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations and winner of the SSFF Audience Award in 2001, director Jason Reitman was sent an Honorary Award.
Also from 2019, a total of 4 winners from the Official Competition (International Category, International Asia Category, Japan Category) and the Non-Fiction Category, would be eligible for nomination to the Academy Awards. 　SSFF & ASIA continue to support young filmmakers through this festival.

Short Shorts Film Festival & AsiaA message from festival President, Tetsuya Bessho

We are very pleased to announce that Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA) 2020 in Achi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan’s most beautiful starry night sky film festival, will be held for the 2nd consecutive year.

SSFF & ASIA 2020, which was scheduled to be held in Tokyo in June, has been postponed until after autumn due to the spread of the new Corona virus infection. In effect, this year’s festival will begin in Achi Village in Nagano.

In addition to a selection of masterpieces including SSFF & ASIA’s past award-winning works, we have also prepared the “Japan Cultural Expo Special Program,” a collection of works that depicts the beauty of Japan through the eyes of the world, as a project presented and co-presented by the Japan Cultural Expo this year.
In addition to last year’s night tour venue, Namiai Park, the “Hirugami Hot Springs” venue will be added this year. This will be a film festival where you can experience more of the beautiful Star Village Achi. Please take this opportunity to enjoy short films on a large screen.