For Immediate Release:
June 12, 2008

Annual International Video Festival Attracts Entries from around the WorldJVC Seeks Entries for the 31st Annual Tokyo Video Festival, TVF2009
Sponsored by Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC)
Supported by the city of Yokohama
Assisted by Landmark Hall

Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC) is pleased to announce the 31st Tokyo Video Festival,TVF2009. The international video festival, TVF2009 will begin accepting entries for the festival
from all countries and regions throughout the world on Friday, June 20, 2008.
The closing date for entry is Tuesday, September 30, 2008. Entries will be evaluated by theTVF2009 Judging Committee including film director Nobuhiko Obayashi, novelist Makoto Shiina
and animation film director Isao Takahata. 100 Selected winning entries are planned to beannounced in January 2009.
Excellence Award winners will be chosen from among the 100 Selected winners. TheAnnouncement and Awards Ceremony will be held at Landmark Hall in Yokohama, Kanagawa
Prefecture near Tokyo. Selected and Excellence winners will be given their awards and the Grand
Prize winning entries will be announced.

■ About the Tokyo Video Festival (TVF)
JVC has held TVF, the world’s biggest-scale international personal video festival, annually
since 1978 as an “event open for everyone to participate in”, inviting people of all ages, menand women, both pro and amateur from all around the world to participate. TVF aims to“explore the possibilities in visual expression using video” and to “promote exchange between
the cultures of the world through images.”
Last year’s festival, the 30th Tokyo Video Festival, TVF2008, received an all-time record of
2,010 video entries, including 750 from Japan and 1,260 from 53 countries and regions
worldwide. Approximately 50,000 home video works from about 100 countries and regions
have been submitted since the first festival in 1978.
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■ TVF 2009 Application Guideline
1. Entry Date and Deadline:
From June 20, 2008 to September 30, 2008
2. Entry Requirements:
Video compositions must be produced with a video camcorder, and supplied on mini DV,VHS, S-VHS, DVD-R or Blu-ray, and be no longer than 20 minutes.
3. Themes & Subjects:
Any subject matter is acceptable.
4. Judges:
Nobuhiko Obayashi

Film DirectorHakudo Kobayashi

Video Artist and Professor at Seian University of Art and DesignHiroaki SatoVideo Artist and a teacher at Nippon Engineering College

Makoto Shiina

Novelist

Isao Takahata

Animation Film Director

Susumu Hani

Film Director

5. Awards & Prizes:
500,000 yen
Video Grand Prize (1 work)(including prize money for the Excellence Awards).

(Grand Prize)

JVC hard disk camcorder “Everio”, trophy, certificate,a round-trip to Japan for award ceremony (1 person)
400,000 yen

JVC Grand Prize (1 work)(including prize money for the Excellence Awards).

(Semi-Grand Prize)

JVC hard disk camcorder “Everio”, trophy, certificate,a round-trip to Japan for award ceremony (1 person)

Excellence Awards(approx. 30 works)
Selected works(approx. 70 works)

100,000 yen, plaque, and certificate
Plaque and certificate*Winners of the Video Grand Prize and the JVC Grand Prize will be selected from the Excellence Awards winners.

People’s Awards (3 works)

Plaque*Excellence Award and Selected work winners (approx. 100 works) automatically become candidates for the"People's Awards" determined by votes from the general public at our Japanese web site.

6. Date and Place of Announcement, Awards Ceremony and Screening events:
From February 28 (Sat.), 2009 to March 1 (Sun.), 2009 at Landmark Hall in Yokohama,Kanagawa Prefecture2

7. Address for Inquiry and Submitting Entries:
TVF Office, Victor Company of Japan, Limited
Victor Building 3F, 1-7-1 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004, Japan
Tel: 81-(0) 3-3289-2815
Fax: 81-(0) 3-3289-2819
For further details and JVC affiliated offices accepting entries around the world, please visit
the Tokyo Video Festival web site: http://www.jvc.co.jp/english/tvf/###For general information, please contact:
Akihito Nakakuki, Manager
Tokyo Video Festival Office
Corporate Communications Department
Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC)
Tel: +81-(0) 3-3289-2815
Fax: +81-(0) 3-3289-2819
E-mail: nakakuki-akihito@jvc-victor.jp

For further press information, please contact:
Toshiya Ogata, General Manager, orDavid Gifford, Manager
Public Relations Group
Corporate Communications Department
Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC)
Tel: +81-(0)45-450-2951, 2952
Fax: +81-(0)45-450-2959
E-mail: ogata-toshiya@jvc-victor.jp
dgifford@jvc-victor.jp
URL: http://www.jvc.co.jp/english< Reference >■ Recent TVF Trends
1) It is noteworthy that for the last four years in a row, beginning with the 27th festival, theVideo Grand Prize winners have all been women in their 20s. It is apparent that women’s
unique sensibility and free thinking has bloomed in the field of video expression, andexpanded the stage for new creations.
2) Young people in their teens and twenties, especially students, now make up about 50-60%
of the total entries. The winners are also concentrated in this age group (30-40%), and six
winning entries were submitted by junior high school students in the previous contest.
3) Documentaries or dramatic works made up most of the works entered, at about 60-70% of
the total. There were a particularly large number of documentaries on themes such as “myfamily and I” or “my community and I” that examined highly personal situations from theinvolved parties’ perspectives. A wide variety of dramatic works were submitted, ranging fromserious works and human dramas to comedy. Other entries covered a tremendous range,
including artistic works creating a distinctive visual world and ingeniously expressive
animated works regardless of both digital and analog animation.
3■ Activities Related to TVF 2009
1. Commemorating the 30th anniversary of TVF
1) Citizen's Video Forum (Session 1: June 14; Session 2: August 2)
Journalists and other media members are being invited to participate as guests indiscussion and other sessions on works selected from the huge archive of videos
submitted from around the world in past TVF contests.
2) Citizen's Video Seminar (Third Saturdays of June, July, and September)
Winning works will be shown and Mr. Hiroaki Sato, one of TVF judges, will provide
commentary on screened works and advise on video creation with the goal of providing
hints for production of video works and improving the video-expression skills ofparticipants,.
2. Other activities
1) JVC Video in Education Workshop (August 5-6)
In schools and other educational settings, video is being used as a tool for enhancing
communication abilities and the power of expression. This workshop is for individuals
involved in audio-visual education and information and communications technology (ICT)education.
2) Vitalization of Local Communities
The JVC Tokyo Video Festival promotes initiatives to invigorate unique local
communities through by exploring subjects such as nature conservation, environmental
destruction and the continuation of cultural traditions. The Festival promotes these
initiatives in partnership with a wide range of organizations including regional video
festivals across the country, as well as Internet broadcast stations, local TV stations, andcable television stations.
■ Support of the city of Yokohama
Since last year, TVF has been held with the support of the city of Yokohama. It will besupported by the Yokohama Economic and Tourism Bureau and the 150th Anniversary of thePort Opening and Creative Headquarters of Yokohama City. JVC, which originated and stillretains its head office in Yokohama, realized this event in close cooperation with the City ofYokohama, which promotes itself as a city of film culture. Victor and Yokohama share thecommon purpose of pursuing the potential of visual image expression through video andpromoting cultural exchange through video, which are the underlying concepts of TVF.

Winners of TVF 2008 at Awards Ceremony in Yokohama

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