About Japanese Film Festival

The Japan Foundation (JF) has been playing an important role in introducing Japanese films to the world since its establishment in 1972. In 2016, the Japan Foundation established the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) in 10 ASEAN countries as well as Australia. Starting in 2017 with China and India, the JFF has since expanded to 5 continents attracting over 170,000 visitors in 2019 alone.

With a goal to promote Japanese culture and cinema overseas, JFF began searching for new ways to serve their mission and increase access to their carefully curated festival programming. Recognizing the accessibility benefits of a video on demand (VOD) platform, JFF partnered with Shift72 to expand their presence and reimagine the scope of their festival.

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Opportunity for a Global Festival

JFF’s second online festival took place between 14-27 February 2022 and expanded the participating countries to 25. Locally-curated events took place in cities across the world, but for two weeks in February the world came together to celebrate Japanese culture simultaneously.

The Japanese Film Festival Online 2022 featured:

• 20 Japanese films streamed for free
• Subtitles in 15 languages
• Participation in 25 countries, including access for the first time in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru
• Locally curated events and digital special features in local languages
  

““The online [digital platform] is very important for us to give more people the chance to see Japanese cinema. So we are [hosting] the Japanese Film Festival Online at the same time as the physical film festival.”
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Masafumi Konomi, Festival Producer

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Looking Forward

Unlike traditional film festivals, JFF’s focus is on how films represent the culture of Japan rather than highlighting the latest in Japanese cinema. With freedom to curate to the culture rather than the industry, JFF continues to investigate ways that VOD can connect global audiences to the essence of Japan.

Plans to populate a year-round VOD platform combined with continued efforts to host an online, global festival demonstrate JFF’s momentum and growth, with no sign of slowing down in the near future.
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“[We made the decision to go digital] three years ago, and then the pandemic occurred. Because of Covid 19, everybody [is] shifting from the physical to online. But for me, [Covid is] not [the reason]. I was thinking from the beginning … [with a digital platform] the more opportunity we have to give. Online is the best way.”
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Masafumi Konomi, Festival Producer