The Kitashinano Obuse Film Festival is held annually in Obuse, a little town without a movie theatre located in the northern part of Japan's Nagano Prefecture. This year marks the 8th edition of the festival, which is organized by an all-volunteer staff.
Roughly 160 years ago, ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai, then in the twilight of his life, visited the town of Obuse a number of times at the invitation of Takai Kozan, a wealthy and exceptionally cultured local merchant. Today, the local Hokusai Museum exhibits many rare and valuable examples of the artist's original paintings.
In establishing the film festival we were guided by the desire to discover and support creative minds that share the keen sensibility for which Katsushika Hokusai is known. In the second year of the festival, therefore, we established the concurrent Sixty-Second Cinema Competition.
Competition
The Sixty-Second Cinema Competition is an opportunity for gifted creative minds to submit sixty-second movies to be judged against the standards set by Katsushika Hokusai, the self-proclaimed "old man mad about painting." The competition has gained a dedicated following by consistently exposing audiences to new discoveries, and fans look forward each year to the appearance of a "modern-day Hokusai." The competition was inspired by the annual Croation Minute Movie Cup in Pozega but we have worked to give it a flavor unique to the Kitashinano Obuse Film Festival. During the festival, a reception is held for directors of films that have passed the initial jury review, people active in the film industry, and the members of the executive committee.
「CROATIAN MINUTE MOVIE CUP」 公式サイト
