Academy Award-recognized "SSFF & ASIA" held, featuring entries from Southeast Asia

The Short Shorts Film Festival & ASIA (SSFF&ASIA) 2015, Asia's largest international short film festival and an Academy Award®-recognized event, was held in Tokyo from June 4th to 15th. On the 15th, the Grand Prix for the Official Competition section was announced, with "Yours" by Iranian director Reza Fahimi winning both the Grand Prix and the Excellence Award in the Asia International section. This film captures, with remarkable sensitivity, the process of making up after a petty quarrel with a friend – an experience familiar to everyone from childhood. Grand Prix winners become eligible for consideration in next year's Academy Awards nominations.

Additionally, as part of the event, a program co-hosted with the Japan Foundation Asia Center will run over two years (2015 and 2016). It features screenings of short films from 11 Southeast Asian countries and an international symposium with short film professionals from each nation. This inaugural year, the symposium "Current State and Future Prospects of Southeast Asian Short Films" featured screenings and discussions from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines. This program explored the "present" of Southeast Asia, where short film production is gaining momentum.

According to NNA, which distributes Asian economic and business information, Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen (last year's Grand Prix winner for "The Woman Who Doesn't Say Hole-in-One"), who participated as a panelist in the symposium, pointed out, "In our country, funding support for film production is still limited." He also drew laughter from the audience regarding last year's Grand Prix winner, stating, "We covered everything from props to equipment out of our own pockets, so we actually made more profit than the production cost." Derek Tan, co-founder of the Asian short film distribution site "Viddsee.com," introduced the current situation in his home country, Singapore. He stated that short films, which can be easily distributed online without high costs, "have become a place where film professionals can freely express themselves."

Director Joseph Angi Noen (first from left) = Photo by NNA