Now in its 18th edition, the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, which will unspool from June 2 to 26 at six venues in Tokyo and Yokohama, has grown into a world-class showcase for short-form cinema.
In addition to competitions in seven categories, the festival will present an array of special programs and events. The total number of films is 200, winnowed from nearly 6,000 submissions.
Where to begin? Veteran festival director Seigo Tono shared some of his picks with The Japan Times in a recent interview and discussed the festival's development from its 1999 start as a passion project of actor Tetsuya Bessho, who wanted to raise the then-low profile of shorts among Japanese audiences.