These are twenty short films you shouldn’t miss at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia which is taking place online & onsite from June 11th – 21st, 2021.
About the festival:
The Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF) started in 1999 and became an Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences accredited festival in 2004, where the winner of the Short Shorts Grand Prix is eligible to receive an Academy Awards® nomination. SSFF has now become one of the largest short film festivals in Asia. In 2004, SSFF received a request from the Governor of Tokyo to develop film programs showcasing Asian short films. This led to the establishment of the Short Shorts Film Festival Asia. Now, these two festivals take place in Harajuku and Omotesando, Tokyo simultaneously in June as the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.
Selected Films:
Section: International Program VI
A grumpy young man frustrated with his life begins a feud with the only person that is still obliged to care about him. His housekeeper.
Venue: Saturday June 19th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 15:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program III
In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a young Sudanese businessman living abroad. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa’s future. But can Nafisa choose for herself?
Venue: Thursday June 17th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 13:30 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program VI
During this evening, Rose Vernon, operator of an emergency call center, must telework whilst taking care of her two young children. The situation gets heated when two emergencies collide…
Venue: Friday June 18th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 15:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: CG Animation Program
“Crunch” is an animated sci-fi comedy short created by five graduate students. The story is about Bob who just started his job in the space agency. While watching a spaceship launching, Bob was hit by a bolt of mysterious lightning and began to grow bigger. But there seemed to be no way to stop…
Venue: Sunday June 13th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 13:30 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program VII
A young Chinese backpacker visits a small Norwegian village, and stays with a host he’s found through a Homestay app. He soon discovers that he has to make a difficult decision.
Venue: Saturday June 19th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 15:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program II
A severely depressed man reaches out for an emergency therapy session. He’s not the only one who needs help. *Picture by ©Andre-Lascaris*
Venue: Monday June 14th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 13:30 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: Smartphone Film Competition
The loss of a loved one takes Leonora on an apparently endless journey.
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program II
Inès, 16, is determined to find a job when she meets Martin, a boy from Brussels’ upscale neighborhoods. Between shame and fascination, she is brutally aware of social injustice.
Venue: Monday June 14th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 13:30 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program I
A shooting at a university—played out for 24 terrifying minutes—in a single unbroken close-up of a young woman hiding in an auditorium.
Venue: Saturday June 12th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 15:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program III
In present day Queens, New York, a Turkish gravedigger is unable to face a shattering truth, and risks losing the dearest connection left in his life.
Venue: Thursday June 17th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 13:30 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: Non-Fiction Program
Before going to war, a former military game designer made video game scenarios that prepared soldiers for cultural shocks, and that healed trauma. Once back from war, his relationship with his identity, with life, and with the video game, changed.
Venue: Monday June 14th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 17:50 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program II
Argyris is an elderly man in the early stages of dementia. When his symptoms worsen, he decides with his daughter, Sophie, to enter a nursing home. During his last days of freedom, Argyris wanders around the city, meeting old friends. He has a secret plan though that will bring Sophie face to face with a difficult choice.
Venue: Monday June 14th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 13:30 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: Non-Fiction Program
A self-portrait in which the director talks about his work and his unmistakable theory of cinema.
Venue: Sunday 20th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 11:20 am
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program VIII
A young immigrant searches for her own identity while fighting for recognition in a male-dominated classroom.
Venue: Sunday 13th, 2021 – TORQUE – 17:30 pm
Venue: Sunday 20th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 15:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program IV
Late at night in a small Turkish town, a young couple tries to find a hotel room to spend the night together. They are rejected from all hotels for not having a marriage certificate. Once they believe they’ve found a trick to use, the situation gets out of hand.
Venue: Thursday 17th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 17:50 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: Non-Fiction Program
After 62 years of loving marriage, Yosef and Zilli Abrahami decide to take their lives together. The memories of their love and their planned death are brought to life through the videotapes of their youngest son Doron.
Venue: Monday June 14th, 2021 – Space Omotesando – 17:50 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: CG Animation Program
Set in 1970s America, Elliot, an uptight businessman, was acquitted from a series of murders. Jake, a local taxi driver, will stop at nothing to seek justice for his daughter’s death. Unbeknownst to Jake’s vengeful intention, Elliot takes a ride with him into the night along a path of violence, death and destruction.
Venue: Thursday 17th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 17:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: Special Programs
In 1946, eight months after the atomic bombings, an American army film team made a feature documentary in Japan. Several reels are shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki including the “11004”. “The reel 11004” explores the 19 minutes of a reel of these rushes and reveals, frame by frame, the first censorship of nuclear history.
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: International Program VI
Sara is in bed with her lover when her husband calls. When he asks for something in his sock drawer, she runs home, stalling for time, asking endless questions about Wichita, Kansas.
Venue: Saturday 19th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 15:40 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
Section: Asian International & Japan Program
A mother helps an elderly woman in a shopping mall in Tehran. A tragedy occurs, brutally confronting her with the impact of her actions.
Venue: Friday 18th, 2021 – iTSCOM – 17:50 pm
Online: Available from June 11th – 21st, 2021
For more information please go to: https://shortshorts.org/2021/en
Categories: News
Asian Film Festivals 