Finally underway! Sharing the appeal of the “Short Shorts Film Festival Asia 2022” through PR!

Celebrities dressed in stunning gowns on the red carpet…A glamorous event where renowned directors and acclaimed actors gather in one place…In this article, we will introduce the appeal of film festivals as conveyed through PR!

Hello.I am Ando from the 4th Division, Public Relations Business Headquarters.

The Academy Awards–accredited, one of Asia’s largest international short film festivals, “Short Shorts Film Festival Asia,” which SUNNY SIDE UP supports with PR—along with a wide range of PR for film festivals across Japan—has opened again this year!

At the festival’s opening ceremony held on Tuesday, June 7 at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA (Shibuya Public Hall), Sho Aoyagi, Tina Tamashiro, Yudai Chiba, Eita Nagayama, and Atsuko Maeda—each serving as a film director for the first time—appeared together on stage.

“WOWOW Actors’ Short Film 2” Talk Session, where a star-studded cast of actors took on the challenge of directing

During the talk session, the participants—actors who are usually in front of the camera—shared comments on the works they directed, including what they found interesting and what they struggled with as directors.

Photo: From left, Sho Aoyagi, Tina Tamashiro, Yudai Chiba, Eita Nagayama, Atsuko Maeda

Mr. Aoyagi commented like a director: “There were times when I worried, but there was nothing I would call difficult.I was fortunate to have an incredibly luxurious cast—far more than I deserved—appear in the film,so I searched for and worked hard to capture their best moments.”

Ms. Tamashiro said of her work, “This time I also wrote the script, selecting from stories I had been saving up. With the pandemic still ongoing, I feel caught between many emotions—being very tired of connections and communication with others, yet craving them at the same time. I wrote it almost like counseling myself, wondering whether it would be good if someone could listen to these feelings,” she explained.

Having also appeared in his own work as the lead,Mr. Chiba commented,“I wrote the script myself and acted in it as well, but memorizing the lines was so hard that I wondered who on earth wrote it,” drawing laughter from the audience.

Mr. Nagayama said, “I thought I had written a script, but the lead actor, Mr. Yakusho, told me, ‘It’s more like a memo…’—and yet he agreed to appear.I wanted to film what happens on set without deciding the lines or the details too rigidly.”

Ms. Maeda replied with a smile, “I asked Erisa Yanagi and Takahiro Miura—whom I’m usually close with—to appear. I wanted to depict friendship between women, but after discussing it with screenwriter Muneko Nemoto, we concluded it didn’t have to be between girls. So I offered the role to Mr. Miura without telling him it was a female role, and he played a wonderful woman.”

There are plenty more must-see film events to come!

At Branded Shorts 2022, held on Tuesday, June 14, the festival honored the best branded movie, “Branded Shorts of the Year,” selected from more than 500 branding-focused short films (branded movies) produced by companies and advertising agencies around the world.

At the award ceremony to be held on Monday, June 20 at Meiji Kinenkan, the winners of each award will be announced and presented. The Grand Prix winner of the George Lucas Award will be revealed, and the shortlisted nominees for the Academy Awards short film category will be announced.Please look forward to it!

In addition, “Short Shorts Film Festival Asia 2022” is scheduled to be screened and streamed from Tuesday, June 7 to Monday, June 20 at four venues in Tokyo and at an online venue that can be enjoyed from anywhere in Japan.
*At the online venue, some works will be available for streaming until Thursday, June 30.

Comments from the team in charge

To ensure that information can be communicated more effectively and more compellingly at each event venue during the festival, our team works together from the event preparation period as PR consultants—developing information, timing communications, coordinating with the media, and handling on-site support—so that the festival’s news reaches as many people as possible. We would be delighted if we can continue to share the enjoyment of event PR through SUNNY DAYS!

For more details on PR events, please also read this article

▼A thorough guide to “PR events” (Part 1)! ~A place to share new values~
▼A thorough guide to “PR events” (Part 2)! ~Beyond form, to move people and society~

Short Shorts Film Festival Asia Official Website https://www.shortshorts.org/2022