Interview
■Award Winners of International Competition
■Award Winners of Japanese Film Competition
Award Winners of International Competition
＜Grand Prize＞ Maria SØDAHL (Director) “Hope”
― How do you feel after receiving the Grand Prize?
When I woke up at the cabin in a mountain in Norway, I received an email from Japan stating that the jurors selected my work for the Grand Prize. It was unexpectable and I am very honored to receive this wonderful news. This award is special to me, because this story is the most autobiographical of my work to date. It was very challenging to translate my own experience to be on screen. The award means, the story, both emotionally and culturally, crossed borders. At least I believe so. It was very encouraging. I think everyone involved in the work is proud of this award.
＜Best Director＞ Natalya NAZAROVA (Director) “The Pencil”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Director?
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the people involved in the festival, the audience, and the jury members. I didn’t expect that I would win the Best Director, and I am surprised with this big thing. Thank you very much for highly appreciating my film. I love all the traditional Japanese culture, including Japanese poetry, so this award is a big thing to me. I would like to visit Japan someday, meet you, and share my feelings about Japanese culture. I love you all.
＜Special Jury Prize＞ Natalya NAZAROVA (Director) “The Pencil”
― How do you feel after receiving the Special Jury Prize?
I’m very happy to get this award and I want to thank you. I want to express my big hope that someday I will travel to Japan. I love Japanese poetries and all these treasures of Japanese cultures, so to me this is a really big thing to get this award. Thank you very much, and I hope to see you soon.
＜Audience Award＞ Ben LAWRENCE (Director) “Hearts and Bones”
― How do you feel after receiving the Audience Award?
Hearts and Bones received the Audience Award, and I thank the film festival and the audience. I was very surprised to hear this news at the airport in the early morning just before leaving London where I was staying. I’m really thankful to you. I wanted to participate in the festival if possible, but I hope to be there someday.
＜SKIP CITY AWARD＞ Takeshi KUSHIDA (Director) “Woman of the Photographs”
― How do you feel after receiving the SKIP CITY AWARD?
The SKIP CITY AWARD is an award that supports the recipient’s next work, so this is the one I wanted to have the most. Woman of the Photographs is my first feature film, and I wondered whether a second film could be made from the moment it was completed. Getting support is a very strong trigger towards making the next work.
― What do you think about the virtual edition of the festival?
This time the Q&A session was live and so I answered the questions as they came in. It was very tense. In the future, I feel that it will be more common to do online Q&As and streaming distribution at the same time as physical screenings.
― Would you give a message to the audience?
Woman of the Photographs is a movie made to pursue the joy of images and the cinematic pleasure. I think that cinematic pleasure means that the audience watches the screen and sympathizes with the characters and feels happiness and sadness. When watching films at the venue, we share the same emotions with the person sitting beside you, whom you have just met for the first time. I'm sure that it is something that can make everyone feel that all human beings are connected, so I hope you will watch my film at the theater.
Award Winners of Japanese Film Competition
＜Best Picture (Japanese Feature Category)＞ Anshul CHAUHAN (Director) “Kontora”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Picture (Japanese Feature Category)?
I'm really happy to show my film to the Japanese audience again. I am grateful for reading and listening to their various reactions and for receiving the award. Since it has been decided to be released in 2021, I was confident about it. I didn't want to make it an experimental movie, but simply wanted to express my feelings honestly. Because it deals with some sensitive topics, I didn't want to mix fakes or lies with this heartfelt movie. This film deals with issues that are very close to my background, like my father and grandfather were in the army and I went to a military school. It's a movie filled with my emotions, so I'm very happy that it was conveyed to the audience.
― What do you think about the virtual edition of the festival?
We would like to thank the festival staff for preparing and hosting the online film festival even in these unfavorable situations. While some film festivals take the method of cancellation, if the festival is held virtually, the audience can watch films on their PC or TV whenever they are free at home. I am very grateful that they had this opportunity, and I would like to express my gratitude again.
― Would you give a message to the audience?
Kontora is a cinemascope film, and made for theater screenings. Its touch, color, sound and music will give you a different impression in the theater. Please come to theaters to watch Kontora in the spring of 2021. The next project will be a film about getting through the lockdown positively. I think it will be a very interesting story, so please support us.
＜Best Picture (Japanese Short Category)＞ Naoya FUJITA (Director) “Stay”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Picture (Japanese Short Category)?
I visited the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL a few years ago. I thought I wanted to screen my film at the place someday, so I'm very happy that I was nominated this time and received the Best Picture.
― What do you think about the virtual edition of the festival?
You can access the festival and watch films from anywhere if it’s online. As far as I could tell from browsing social media, I have the impression that more people watched my film than would have been possible had it been screened at the theater. Some people gave their opinions on social media and I was able to read them, so we were able to communicate with each other, and I was pleased that I had more opportunities to have contact with them as a creator.
― Would you give a message to the audience?
I would like to thank everyone who watched Stay. I made this film before the COVID-19 pandemic started, so I wasn't conscious of it in terms of human relationships, but under this circumstance I might change my perspective. I think it will be even more interesting if you watch it while thinking about such changes in yourself. If you haven't seen it yet, I'll do my best to show it again, so I'd appreciate it if you kept an eye out for it.
＜Audience Award (Japanese Feature Category)＞ Teppei ISOBE (Director) “Cornflakes”
― How do you feel after receiving the Audience Award (Japanese Feature Category)?
The people I want to show my film to are the audience, so I'm truly happy to receive the Audience Award.
― What do you think about the virtual edition of the festival?
For the past two years, I've been in SKIP CITY, staying nearby and watching films a lot. I was pleased that my film was nominated again this year. However, I felt sad when the festival went virtual. It was actually good because the audience could watch films anytime on streaming. I also watched some of them late at night, so I thought it would be good in that sense.
― Would you give a message to the audience?
Thank you to everyone who watched Cornflakes. I started making movies in 2016, and then I showed short films, middle-length films, and feature films at some film festivals, but I thought this film would be the end of my self-financed films. I shot it in Osaka, but I'm very happy to show it at SKIP CITY and to receive the award selected by the audience. I hope you will watch and enjoy more films from me.
＜Audience Award (Japanese Short Category)＞ PARK Jengil (Director) “Muito Prazer”
― How do you feel after receiving the Audience Award (Japanese Short Category)?
Since the subject is a kind of an issue, I thought it might be difficult for the film to be selected for competitions even in Japan. I was surprised as well as honored that the film was selected for SKIP CITY INTERNATIOANL D-Cinema FESTIVAL and many people watched it with this kind of subject.
― What do you think about the virtual edition of the festival?
Because my film was a short and it was an online festival, I think that many people could watch it even with this kind of subject. So I think it was good for me. On the other hand, however, I also love movies, so I would have been happy if they could watch it in the theater. Since this situation is not only in Japan but all over the world, I would like to manage to survive together.
― Would you give a message to the audience?
I thank everyone who watched my film. It's a micro-budget film and I made it only with my passion, but I want to keep this passion and make it no matter what the production situation in the future will be. Whenever I make a film, I always want to make one that makes the audience feel good and happy. Through the experience of making this and looking at the recent news, not only do I want to make the audience feel good, but I want to make films and shooting sites that make the staff and cast members happy, too. Thank you very much for watching my film.