May.7, 2024
Committee for Short Shorts
Film Festival & Asia

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA)
announces Special Program & Program Selection
at Nippon Connection in Frankfurt, Germany
Screening Japan’s 6 short films includingGrand-Prix and Japan Category Best Short Award winners
on May 30, May 31, and June 2

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA) proudly announces the collaboration screening with the film
festival “Nippon Connection” in Frankfurt, Germany will be held on May 30, May 31, and June 2.
A total of 6 short films are curated under the theme of “Crossing Borders” and include SSFF & ASIA 2023
Grand-Prix, George Lucas Award winner “The Bridge” by Izumi Yoshida, Japan Category Best Short Awardwinner, “Seen” by Shinji Hamasaki, an actress Tao Tsuchiya’s directorial debut “Prelude”, Japan category
nominee “Huyuko’s summer” by Shinichiro Kanagawa, “Teleporting” which is directed by four Japan and Korean
women and “NEO PORTRAITS”, co-produced by SSFF & ASIA with NTT, which depicts the changes in life andvalues caused by technological innovation, starting with AI.
Florian Höhr, a programmer of Nippon Connection commented "We at Nippon Connection are proud to beworking with the renowned Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia to present six films from the festival's strong anddiverse line-up. It's a wonderful opportunity for our German audience to discover new and promising talent fromJapan and beyond."◆「Nippon Shorts: Crossing Borders」 Thu, May 30 from 9:30pm
Screening “Teleporting” by Arum Nam, Chifumi Tanzawa, Nana Noka, Ohyeon Kwon/
https://db.nipponconnection.com/en/event/1490/nippon-shorts-crossing-borders◆「SSFF & ASIA Special」 Fri, May 31 from 8:00pm
Screening “Prelude” by Tao Tsuchiya, “Seen” by Shinji Hamasaki, “Huyuko’s Suumer” by Shinichiro
Kanagawa, and “NEO PORTRAITS” by GAZEBO
https://db.nipponconnection.com/en/event/1572/short-shorts-film-festival-asia-special◆「Animation Across Borders – A Selection Of Independent Shorts」 Mon, June 2 from 11:30am
Screening “The Bridge” by Izumi Yoshidahttps://db.nipponconnection.com/en/2024/section/3/nippon-animation

＜Screening Titles＞「Nippon Shorts: Crossing Borders」 Thu, May 30 9:30pm@ Mal Seh'n Kino: Adlerflychtstraße 6, 60318 Frankfurt am Main
『Teleporting』
Director：Arum Nam, Chifumi Tanzawa, Nana Noka, Ohyeon Kwon/
22:33/ Japan・Korea / Documentary / 2022
Story：Kitty and Tommy living in Korea, Mia and Emma living in Japan.
They are unable to meet in person due to COVID-19. However, they
became friends through Internet. Teleporting into each other's lives
through the online screen. Can we imagine different realities throughnew connections?

「Short Shorts Film Festival ＆ Asia Special」 Fri, May 31 8:00pm@ Mal Seh'n Kino: Adlerflychtstraße 6, 60318 Frankfurt am Main
『Prelude』
Director：Tao Tsuchiya /24：35 / Japan / Drama/ 2023
Story：Ayuka, her grandfather, her mother, and her best friend
Momoko also all live with painful memories.

『Seen』
Director：Shinji Hamasaki /23:37/ Japan / Drama /2022
Story：A love story based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short story "TheNose." Tatsuya, a man afflicted with a nose complex, meets Fumi, areclusive woman with an eye patch. Both burdened with theiremotional scars, the two find themselves drawn to each other.

『Huyuko’s Summer』
Director：Shinichiro Kanagawa /20:00/ Japan / Drama /2023Story：Girls spend their time idly, end up in a field of sunflowers in fullbloom, where they come to a crossroads.

『NEO PORTRAITS』
Director：GAZEBO /19:51/ Japan / Sci-Fi Drama /2023
Story：A story of rural Japan in the near future.
"Cutting-edge technology" and "things that haven't changed"
coexist in this depopulated town. Takumi, an eighth-year juniorhigh school student, felt it strange that the adults in his town
treated the android made in his mother's image as the real thing.
However, only Hana, his homeroom teacher, was different from theother adults.

「Animation Across Borders – A Selection Of Independent Shorts」
Mon, June 2, 11:30am ＠NAXOS Cinema Waldschmidtstraße 19,60316 Frankfurt am Main
『The Brideg』
Director：Izumi Yoshida /22:30/ Poland / Animation /2022
Story：The film’s inspired by events of the year 1920 that’d brought
two nations closer: Poland and Japan. The story is told from a 10year-old boy’s perspective, showing the history of orphans who losttheir families and had to rush into manhood to fight for their lives.

Started in 2000, the world's largest festival of Japanese cinema will showcase
around 100 short and feature films at eight venues. The Japanese culture will
also be explored through the extensive culture program, reflecting Japan's
musical, culinary, and artistic diversity.
The Nippon Connection Film Festival presents works by both establishedfilmmakers and emerging directors. https://nipponconnection.com

Tetsuya Bessho, an actor and member of the American Actors Guild (SAG),
founded the American Short Shorts Film Festival in 1999 with the aim to introduce
short films, which he had discovered in the United States, as a new visual genre toJapan. In 2001, the name was changed to Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF), and in2004 it was certified as an Academy Award-recognized film festival.
Also, in the same year, "Short Shorts Film Festival Asia (Co-hosted by SSFF ASIA:
Tokyo)" was born with the aim of disseminating new visual culture from Asia andnurturing up-and-coming young filmmakers. We are holding a film festival under thecollective name "SSFF & ASIA".
In 2018, to commemorate the film festival's 20th anniversary, the Grand Prix award
became the George Lucas Award, named after director George Lucas. In January
2019, the "Short Shorts Film Festival in Hollywood" was held to commemorate thefestival’s 20th anniversary. Also in 2019, four competitions, and from 2022, fivecompetitions, including the Animation Competition, have acquired the right to beeligible for nomination at the following year's Academy Awards®︎ in the short film
category. SSFF & ASIA will continue to support young creators through the film
festival.
https://www.shortshorts.org/index-en.php【Press Inquiry】 Committee for Short Shorts ／ Fuyumi Tanaka press@shortshorts.org
Stills are here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LDjwzH1v8jVY2yaY_-YrfkjHUjm2hd1c?usp=sharing