Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2014

TSUYOSHI NAKAKUKI /PETER BAUMANN / MARCIN WASILEWSKI / SHINICHIROU UEDA / MARTIN DE LANGE / KEN OCHIAI / SUNG-CHI LO / CHLOÉ ALLIEZ / SPENCER BROWN / EDWARD KHOO & LI CHEN KWOK / ERIK SCHMITT / TOSHIRO SONODA / YINGXIU SHEN / ROSTO / SUSAN BÉJAR / MAT KIRKBY / A.T. / MELVIN CHAN / YOSEP ANGGI NOEN / MARCEL HOBI / MILES MURPHY / CHRIS SHEPHERD

Hosted by

Preface

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA) is a qualifying film festival for the annual Academy Awards® and one of Asia’s largest international short film festivals. It was held from May 30th to June 15th at two venues in Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama. Nearly 4,000 films from over 110 different countries and regions around the world were in the running, with the cream of the crop -- some 200 titles -- being selected to screen at the festival.

The Laforet Harajuku Museum venue saw four times the usual number of attendees on this special day last year, opening up to long lines of eager moviegoers waiting at the door. This year, amidst Japan’s consumption tax hikes in April, the festival did its part in giving something back. Festival President Tetsuya Bessho proposed the idea of “bringing entertainment closer to the people”, all films on the program (with the exception of some special programs) were screened for free for the duration of the festival.

Malaysia Screening

As the only custodians of the SSFF & ASIA in Malaysia – 42nd Pictures, brought the festival to the country for the fifth time this year. Collaborating with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology for a second time, a two-day screening of 22 of the highest quality works from around the world was held on 20th & 21st October 2014 at the campus. Yasu Tanaka and Bea Tanaka, directors of 42nd Pictures and producers of SSFF & ASIA explained that the 22 short films screened were selected for the Malaysian audience from the thousands of entries.

FOREWORD

Platform to Inspire the Aspiring

The global film industry is just about the most exciting field to work in today. It is a multibillion-dollar industry that transcends borders and cultures alike. More importantly, it is the ideal industry for creative talents to showcase their work globally. The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2014 is one such platform for youths to interact with film professionals and make the jump to high-end film production. This is also part of the university's philosophy - to pipe students directly with industry professionals so they get direct input which will benefit them when adjusting to the needs of the workplace.

This marks the second year in a row that the university is hosting the event after the resounding success of the 2013 event, which was also the first time for a university to host the festival. This comes as no surprise seeing as the university has produced award-winning directors and actors and its campus is a highly sought-after filming location. This special screening will expose students to professional expectations, galvanizing aspiring filmmakers to realize their dreams.

Tan Sri Dato' Sri Paduka Limkokwing
President, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Worldwide