Press release February 3, 2014

Nippon Connection Film Festival 2014 – First Highlights
Submission deadline for VGF Nippon in Motion Award extended

The Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection will take place for the 14th time from May 27 to June 1, 2014 in Frankfurt am Main / Germany. The biggest festival for Japanese film worldwide will present more than 130 new productions in six days, with many German and European premieres. Many filmmakers from Japan are again expected as guests.

We can already allow a first peek at some of the highlights of the program: director and script writer Yosuke FUJITA, winner of the Nippon Cinema Award in 2008 (for FINE, TOTALLY FINE), will personally present his new comedy FUKU-CHAN OF FUKUFUKU FLATS, which was co-produced – among others – by German distribution label Rapid Eye Movies and Third Window Films from London.

This year's NIPPON RETRO is dedicated to director Ko NAKAHIRA (1926-1978), whose films can still excite cinema fans with their modern imagery. After taking his first steps as an assistant of such legends as Akira KUROSAWA and Kaneto SHINDO, Ko NAKAHIRA issued his own provocative masterpiece CRAZED FRUIT in 1956, laying the foundation for the Japanese Nouvelle Vague. In cooperation with Japan Foundation Tokyo and the Institute for Japanese Culture in Cologne, we will present nine films from three decades at the cinema of the German Film Museum.

NIPPON CULTURE will welcome the audience again with its rich cultural program. Apart from talks on current topics such as the situation in Fukushima, star director Hirokazu Koreeda, and Japanese architecture, a number of workshops, combining tradition and modernity, are already in preparation: Japanese Hip Hop-dance, traditional Gagaku music, cooking classes, tea ceremony, Kendo for Kids, Taiko drumming, Manga drawing and many more. For the first time there will be a special culinary city tour, where you can discover the “Japanese corners” of Frankfurt.

VGF NIPPON IN MOTION AWARD – Submission Deadline Extended!
The submission deadline for the VGF Nippon in Motion Award has been extended. Filmmakers and all those aspiring to this vocation can send in their ultra-short works (with a maximum length of 12 seconds!) on the subject “Nippon in Motion” until March 15, 2014. The three best films will be shown on the infoscreens of Frankfurt's subway stations during the weeks before the festival. The winner will also receive a prize money of 250 €, sponsored by the Frankfurt Public Transport Company VGF.
You can find more information at the following website:
www.nipponconnection.com/filmeinreichung.html

THE FESTIVAL
The Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection is organized on a voluntary basis by a team of 50 members of the non-profit Nippon Connection registered association. For the second time, the festival center will be located at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and Theater Willy Praml in der Naxsohalle in Frankfurt (NIPPON CINEMA, NIPPON VISIONS, NIPPON ANIMATION, NIPPON KIDS, NIPPON CULTURE). Additional screenings will be held at Mal Seh’n Kino (encore presentations) and at the German Film Museum (NIPPON RETRO). Further cooperation partners include naxos.Kino im Theater.