report

DJ John here. Well we're off & running. We started with the Academy Award winning shorts program followed by Asia International & Japan A program. The thing about this festival is that you really don't ever get tired or bored seeing these wonderful short films. Sometimes when I go see a full length movie, there are moments in just about any film where I'm bored or wondering when this is going to end. Not so with the shorts. Whether they're 1 1/2 minutes long or 22 minutes long, the creators have squeezed all that they must in to the film & the variety is as wide as everyone's imaginations. For the Asia International & Japan A program, director Mina Yonezawa came out & we were able to have a talk show after the showing. Her animated short titled "Happy Thermometer" took a unique approach to the global warming problem by creating a family of thermometers & how they are endangered by the ever worsening conditions. For her 4 minute short, it took her over 1 1/2 months to create the finished film. Another very interesting aspect of this festival are the Q & A sessions that are available for the audience after most programs.

 That's it for now with more updates coming soon!

Hi everyone. DJ John here checking in with you from the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2008.

The festival is held here in Tokyo @ the very busy Laforett Harajuku. The 6th floor is called Laforet Museum,and this where the festival is held. The building itself is actually a massive shopping complex & is located @ the intersection of Harajuku, Omotesando, & Shibuya. Very possibly the busiest crossroads of all Japan.

The opening event was a star-studded affair & was even more exciting since the Indy Jones 4 crew were in town for their Japan premier. George Lucas has been a major supporter of the Short Shorts Festival from the start & it was great to see Mssr.s Lucas, Ford, et al in town although it was quite impossible for them to attend our cozy little celebration. We were however graced with the presence of the creme de la creme of Japanese cinema & music scenes. The 6 stars each contributed a short film of thier own, all based on Route 246 which is a busy & important street/highway linking Tokyo & the suburbs. Being artists in their own right, each short film has a very unique feel & touch. Just another addition to an already spectacular program to celebrate this 10th anniversary with the Asia competition coming into it's own with it's 5th anniversary as well.

I'll be MC'ing here @ the Laforet location for the entire festival as well as blogging to you all so stay tuned & by all means come ou & enjoy this very unique & always fantastically fun festival. There's never a dull moment!

The Opening Event was held today at Laforeｔ Museum, Harajuku to present this year's line-up. 100 people were invited to enjoy and experience the event. A huge crowd of media also gathered to witness the winners of the Spotlight Award; “R246 STORY.”

After the outline of the festival was introduced, Tetsuya Bessho, the Founder of SSFF & ASIA, invited 6 talents, Tadanobu Asano, Shido Nakamura, Genki Sudo, VERBAL (m-flo), ILMARI (RIP SLYME) and Yusuke Santamaria, onto the stage and asked about their films and passions towards their art works. The producer of this R246 STORY project commented, “You will see how much passion and energy these 6 talents have put into their films. They did such a wonderful job on creating short films, so please come see the R246 STORY!”  

These short films will be screened at the scheduled time, so please check out the special page of “R246 STORY” at http://www.shortshorts.org/2008/en/r246.html for more details.