26th Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia – Call for Entry 2024

By Asian Film Festival on August 1, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (Japan) is accepting narrative, documentary, animated, smartphone short films until January 31st, 2024; and branded shorts until February 29th, 2024.

About the festival:
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia is an Academy Awards® accredited festival where the winner of the Best Short awards in the Live-action Competition, Animation Competition well as the Non-Fiction Competition, will be eligible for nomination in the short film categories of the Academy Awards® the following year. The festival was founded in 1999 as The Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF), and since 2004, SSFF acquired a program specialized in Asian short films and established Short Shorts Film Festival Asia with the support of the Governor of Tokyo. Now, the combination of the two festivals take place annually in Tokyo as Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, one of the largest short film festivals in Asia.

Categories:
– Official Competitions (3 Categories)
Films under 25 minutes, all genres except for Non-Fiction and Music Video. Categories are divided by International, Asia International and Japan.

– Non-Fiction Competition
Non-Fiction films under 25 minutes.

– Cinematic Tokyo Competition
Films under 25 minutes that visualize Tokyo’s diverse charms.

– Animation Competition
Animation films under 25 films that partially or complete.

– Smartphone Film Competition
Films under 25 minutes that are fully shot by smartphones.

– Branded Shorts Competition
Films under 25 minutes that aim to communicate a brand.

General Rules for ALL Sections:
– Submissions must be done via FilmFreeway or ShortFilmDepot (links below) except the Branded Shorts Competition (link to the online form can be found below). Fees are the same in both platforms.
– Works in progress will NOT be accepted.
– The festival ONLY accepts short films under 25 minutes. Running time includes end credits.
– English subtitles are required for submissions with languages other than English or Japanese.
– The festival ONLY accepts online submissions, DVD/BD screeners will not be accepted.
– By submitting the film, the submitter acknowledges that the Festival has the right to screen the film in any competition or program at SSFF & ASIA 2024 if selected without any screening fee.
– The selected film may also be streamed online at the festival online venue.
– If selected, filmmakers are required to provide an Apple ProRes file as a screening copy.
– Festival venues, dates, awards, travel awards etc. are subject to change at any time.
– Submission fees are non-refundable under any circumstances.
– Selection results will be announced by April 25, 2024 on the official festival website.
– The National and International Tour of the Festival will take place after SSFF & ASIA 2024 in Tokyo ends. All selected films will be screened in Tokyo, but not all selected films will be screened at all locations. The filmmakers will be notified in case their films will be screened in the tour.

Official Competitions (3 Categories)

– It’s divided by International, Asian International and Japan categories.
– All genres are accepted with the exception of non-fiction films and music videos.
– Films should be 25 minutes or under. NO EXCEPTIONS. Running time includes end credits.
– The short film must have been produced after June 1st, 2022. The festival committee will determine the production date of your film based on the copyright year listed in the end credits.
– All submissions will be considered in three categories: Japan, Asia International and International. Eligibility for each category will be determined by the festival committee based on the following criteria: director’s nationality, shooting location, language of the film, nationality of cast and source of funding.
– Countries for the Asia International Competition are defined as: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rep. of China, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.
– Short Films must be Japan Premiere (except Japan Competition). Your film MUST keep the Japan premiere status from August 1, 2023 until Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2024 in Tokyo ends.
– English subtitles are required for submissions with languages other than English or Japanese.
– Shortlist will be announced on the official festival website within two months after the month of the film is submitted.

Non-Fiction Competition

– Documentary motion picture. It may employ any techniques as long as the film is made as a non-fiction film and the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.
– Films should be 25 minutes or under. NO EXCEPTIONS. Running time includes end credits.
– The short film must have been produced after June 1st, 2022. The festival committee will determine the production date of your film based on the copyright year listed in the end credits.
– Japan Premiered is NOT required.
– There are no country restrictions.
– English subtitles are required for submissions with languages other than English or Japanese.
– Shortlist will be announced on the official festival website within two months after the month of the film is submitted.

Cinematic Tokyo Competition

– Films must visualize Tokyo’s diverse charms. “Tokyo” must feature in the film. You do not have to show the real Tokyo or even shoot in Tokyo, and depictions can be based on your imagination or fiction. (Examples: Films shot in and around Tokyo, Films depicting locations or objects based on the image of “Tokyo”, or Films depicting Tokyo 100 years from now).
– Accepts films under 25 minutes (including end credits).
– No production year restriction applies.
– Japan Premiered is NOT required.
– There is NO fee for this Competition.
– There are no country restrictions.
– English subtitles are required for submissions with languages other than English or Japanese.
– The selection results will be announced by the end of April 2023 on the official festival website.

Animation Competition

– Animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time. Any animation technique is accepted.
– Accepts films under 25 minutes (including end credits).
– The film must have been produced after June 1, 2022. The festival committee will determine the production date of your film based on the copyright year listed in the end credits.
– Japan Premiered is NOT required.
– There are no country restrictions.
– English subtitles are required for submissions with languages other than English or Japanese.
– Shortlist will be announced on the official festival website within two months after the month of the film is submitted.

Smartphone Film Competition

– Short Films fully shot by smartphones. Any equipment could be used for editing. No limitation of brands of smartphones.
– Accepts films under 25 minutes (including end credits).
– The film must have been produced after June 1, 2022. The festival committee will determine the production date of your film based on the copyright year listed in the end credits.
– Japan Premiered is NOT required.
– There are no country restrictions.
– English subtitles are required for submissions with languages other than English or Japanese.
– The selected films for this competition will be streamed online on the official festival online venue during the festival period.

Branded Shorts

– Branded movies that have/will have their first release between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024.
– Accepts shorts under 25 minutes (including end credits).
– Submissions must be videos produced with the aim of communicating the brand or services of a company/organization to its customers. The movie can be submitted by any relevant companies.
– In order to promote Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia and Branded Shorts, selected works may be screened/streamed at events or via websites managed by the Committee for Short Shorts (operations company: Pacific Voice Inc.) or other third parties involved.
– The entering company must receive approval from all related parties.
– To avoid conflict with the aforementioned stipulation, please ensure that the individual rights relating to writers, performers, musicians etc. have all been cleared in advance before submitting.
– If the submitted work is in a language other than English or Japanese, please submit an English or Japanese script or dialogue list.
– Refunds will not be issued under any circumstances.
– Shortlisted works will be selected by Committee for Short Shorts. Shortlisted works will be announced in the BRANDED SHORTS website in every month. Nominated works will be selected from the shortlisted works. Nominated works will be introduced on the official website and then will be screened or/and streamed at SSFF & ASIA 2024.
– The Judging Criteria are: essentiality, ability to change perceptions, shareability, strength of message, viewership retention, originality, timeliness, and memory retention.

– Submission Fees and Deadlines: