TOKYO, JAPAN — Introducing the SSFF & ASIA 2022 jury members who will select the various awards. The International Competition, Asia International Competition, and Japan Competition are supported by Sony as “Official Competitions supported by Sony”. In order to take a wider view of international perspectives, the judges in the Asia International category will judge the Non-Fiction Competition, and the judges of the Japan Competition will judge the Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony’s Xperia.
- Official Competition supported by Sony International Competition Judges will judge the 2282 submissions from 102 areas and countries
- Official Competition supported by Sony Asia International Competition Judges will judge the 23 nominated films from the 639 submissions.
- Non-Fiction Competition Judges will judge the 13 nominated short films from the 335 submissions around the world.
- Official Competition supported by Sony Japan Competition Judges will judge the 27 nominated films from 347 submissions. Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony’s Xperia: will judge the 15 out of 602 submissions from around the world. The award ceremony will be held on June 20th (Mon). The Official Competition supported by Sony and the Non-Fiction competition winners will be eligible for an Oscar in the short film category the following year
SSFF & ASIA 2022 Official Competition supported by Sony International Competition Judges
Yoko Narahashi（Director / Casting Director / Lyricist)
Some of Yoko Narahashi’s most notable stage and musical productions include “Hair,” “The Magic Monkey,” and “The Winds of God. The Winds…” was invited to the Actors Studio in the United States and the United Nations Headquarters, and was also performed in Australia and New Zealand. In 2013, she produced “EMPEROR” starring Tommy Lee Jones. Yoko has also worked as a casting director for foreign films since 1986, and served also as an associate producer for “The Last Samurai (2003)”. Since then, she has cast “Sayuri,” “Babel,” “Wolverine: Samurai,” and A. Jolie’s “Unbroken (2014),” among others, and was nominated for a BAFTA in casting for the Netflix film “Giri/shame,” which will be released in 2019 and won an RTS Craft & Design Award.
Hyunri（Actor)
Hyunri studied abroad in Oxford, England during junior high school. She studied acting in Korea. She is trilingual in Japanese, English, and Korean. She won the Best Rising Star Award at the 29th Takasaki Film Festival for starring in the film, “The Voice of Water” in 2014. In 2017, she won the Asia Star Prize at the Seoul International Drama Awards. Her recent works include films such as “Wife of a Spy” “The Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” and TV series, “PACHINKO” ”Love You as the World Ends”. She is the host of the radio show, “Across The Sky” every Sunday morning on J-WAVE (Tokyo).
Jéro Yun (Director)
Born in Busan, he studied art, photography, and film at the ENSAD Paris and at Le Fresnoy. His short documentary Promesse won the Grand Prize at the Asiana International Short Film Festival. His feature documentary Madame B., histoire d’une Nord-Coréenne won awards at film festivals in Moscow and Zurich, selected ACID Cannes 2016 while his short film Hitchhiker screened in the Directors’ Fortnight. In 2018, his debut feature film Beautiful Days opened the Busan International Film Festival, his second feature film Fighter screened in Berlinale Generation 2021 and won Best Actress, Netpac in BIFF 2020.
SSFF & ASIA 2022 Official Competition supported by Sony Asia International/Non-Fiction Competition Judges
Shinji Higuchi（Film Director, Special Effects Director)
Born on September 22, 1965. Higuchi entered the film industry in 1984 with the film “Godzilla” and received a special award from the Japan Academy Prize for his work as special effects director on “Gamera: Guardian of the Universe” in 1995. In 2012, he won the “Japan Academy Award for Best Director” for “The Floating Castle.” In 2016, he won the Japan Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director for “Shin Godzilla,” for which he served as director and special effects director. In 2017, he directed the NHK historical fantasy “The Guardian of the Spirit: The Final Chapter.” in 2022, he will serve as special effects director for “Ribbon,” directed by Non In 2022, he directed the special effects for “Ribbon,” directed by NON, and produced a PV “Living with Movies, Living in Movies” in support of the film. In May, his film “Shin Ultraman” was released.
Makiko Watanabe（Actor)
Born September 14, 1968, Tokyo. After working as a model, she made her acting debut in “BAKAYARO! (1988), which was produced and directed by Yoshimitsu Morita. Since then, she has worked in a wide range of fields, including film, stage, TV, and TV commercials. “The Asadas” (directed by Nakano Ryota) and “37 Seconds” (directed by HIKARI), for which she won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 33rd Nikkan Sports Film Awards and the Yujiro Ishihara Award. She has also served as a jury member for many film festivals in Japan and abroad, including the Tokyo International Film Festival and SKIP City International D-Cinema Festival.She has appeared in more than 80 films, including “The Mourning Forest” (2007/Naomi Kawase), “Love Exposure” (2009/Sion Sono), “And Your Bird Can Sing” (2018/Sho Miyake), and “A Banana? At This Time of Night?” (2018/Tetsu Maeda).
SSFF & ASIA 2022 Official Competition supported by Sony Japan Competition/ Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony’s Xperia Judges
Eiji Okuda（Actor・Director）
Born in Aichi prefecture in 1950. In 1979, starred in the movie “Motto Shinayaka ni Takani.” Received the Mainichi Film Award for Best Actor for “Umi to Tokuyaku” in 1986, and the Japan Academy Award for Best Actor for “Death of a Tea Master” in 1989. In 1994, he won eight leading actor awards such as Kinema Junpo and Blue Ribbon Awards for “Like a Rolling Stone”. Also, in 2001, he made his directorial debut with the movie “Shoujyo-an adolescent.” The film was invited by the Venice Film Festival and many other film festivals to win the Grand Prix at the 17th Paris Film Festival and the 16th AFI Film Festival. Since then, he has been highly acclaimed as director with films including “Runin,” “Long Walk,” and “Outside the Wind.” In 2006 “Long Walk” won a triple crown with the 30th Montreal World Film Festival Grand Prix, International Federation of Film Critics Prix, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.
Kiki Sugino（Actor・Director・Producer）
She studied abroad in Seoul while a student at Keio University, and made her acting debut in 2005 with the Korean film “Mabushii ichinichi,” followed by “Zettai no ai” (2006). After returning to Japan, she starred in “Clearness” (2008). Since 2008, she has been producing, directing and appearing in numerous films, including “Welcome Home” (2010), “Dawayaka na Nichijo” (2012), “Hitori no Sakuko” (2013), and “Ai no Manazashi wo” (2020). She made his directorial debut with “” (2014) and her second film as a director, “Yokudō” (2014), won the Best New Director Award at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asia Star Awards. Her film as director & actor, “Snow Woman” (2016), won the Jury Prize at the Quezon International Film Festival. She continues work in all genres as an actor, director, and producer, teaming up with filmmakers from Asia and Europe.
Hassan Fazili（Director）
Hassan Fazili is an award-winning artist that has developed theater plays, documentaries, short films, and several popular television series. His latest documentary, “Midnight Traveler”, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and won a Special Jury Award. Midnight Traveler went on to screen at over 100 festivals, including Berlinale, Shefield, HotDocs, IDFA, Emmy, Yamagata, and has won over 30 awards. His films “MR. FAZILI’S WIFE” and “LIFE AGAIN!” both push the envelope on issues of women’s, children’s, and disability rights in Afghanistan, and have screened and won awards at numerous international festivals. Fazili’s documentary PEACE IN AFGHANISTAN, made for national television, profiled Taliban commander Mullah Tur Jan, who laid down arms in favor of a peaceful civilian life. Hassan currently resides in Germany and is currently serving as a consultant on several documentaries, offering private filmmaking classes and developing a script for a feature film.
Short Shorts Film Festival & ASIA 2022 Outline
- President: Tetsuya Bessho
- Dates: June 7th (Tue)～ June 20th (Mon) Online Screening April 28th（Thurs）～June 30th（Thurs）
- Screening Venues: Opening Ceremony at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA Euro Live Omotesando Hills Space O TORQUE SPICE & HERB, TABLE & COURT iTSCOM STUDIO & HALL Futakotamagawa Rise Akasaka Intercity Conference ※ Schedules vary by venue
- Admission: Free ※ Special events will have an admission fee
- Official Website: https://www.shortshorts.org/2022/en
- Organizer: Committee for Short Shorts / Committee for Short Shorts Film Festival Asia
