This year marks the 20th anniversary of the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL. The past three years have been difficult due to COVID-19. Despite the difficulties, young filmmakers from all over Japan and the world have continued to make films and seek a place to showcase their work. This year we received a record number of 1,246 submissions from 102 countries and regions. The vibrant energy of these filmmakers is the driving force for the festival and will be the fuel to lead the film industry in the years to come.

 

This year, the 20th edition of the festival, we will hold a program that reinforces the festival’s mission of discovering and nurturing young filmmakers. It is a special program called ‘SKIP CITY Alumni Reunion’, in which filmmakers who participated in past festivals and are now active as commercial filmmakers will talk about their paths from the festival up to the present, along with screenings of their new films. Among the many SKIP alumni filmmakers, five directors will join the program in person.

 

Another note this year is that a number of directors, selected for past editions but who still satisfy the entry requirements, submitted their new films. In the International Competition, Pablo Solarz from the 2018 Audience Award winner The Last Suit will return to the competition with a new film in a completely different style. We as the organizers are truly honored that filmmakers feel an attachment and return to SKIP CITY with their new works.

 

Each carefully selected film, in each competition, awaits your attendance.

 

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to all the members of the preliminary selection process and all the staff and others involved in this film festival.

 

Tsutomu TSUCHIKAWA

Director, SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL