SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL (sponsored by Saitama Prefecture, Kawaguchi City, SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL committee, etc.), that had launched for the purpose of discovering new talents in the field of digital cinema, opened on July 14th and came to the finale on July 22 nd. All the awards in Feature Length and Short Length Competitions were announced at the awarding ceremony at the Audio Visual Hall of SKIP CITY. Let us forward you award winners list and the comments from the festival organizers, juries, and award winners. We would highly appreciate it if you could cover the closing of the 9th edition of SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL 2012.

Feature Length Competition
This year 571 submissions received from 84 countries. 12 films (9 from overseas, and 3 from Japan) have been selected and screened. The Awards were judged by 4 producers as jury members.
President of the Jury for Feature Length Competition: Shinya Kawai (Japan)
Juries : Haruo Umekawa (Japan), Jung-wan Oh (South Korea), Marten Rabarts (New Zealand)

Grand Prize: “Kuma” (2012 / Austria / 93min.) Director: Umut Dag
-Certificate and trophy are given by the festival organizers
-Trophy and cash prize of 1,500,000 yen are given by Sony, Sony Business Solutions, and Sony PCL.

Best Director: Ryota Nakano “Caputuring Dad” (2012 / Japan / 74min.)
-Certificate and trophy are given by the festival organizers
-Trophy and cash prize of 500,000 yen are given by Sony, Sony Business Solutions, and Sony PCL.

Best Screenplay: “Bon Voyage” (2011 / Netherands / 82min.)Director:Margien Rogaar
-Certificate and trophy are given by the festival organizers
-Trophy and cash prize of 500,000 yen are given by Sony, Sony Business Solutions, and Sony PCL

Special Jury Prize: “Nono” (2011 / Philippines / 115min.) Director: Rommel Tolentino
-Certificate and trophy are given by the festival organizers
-Trophy and cash prize of 500,000 yen are given by Sony, Sony Business Solutions, and Sony PCL.

SKIP CITY Award: “Capturing Dad” (2012 / Japan / 72min.) Director: Ryota Nakano
-Trophy are given by the festival organizers
-Granted the recipient free access to the audio and video facilities at Sai-no-Kuni Visual Plaza for a certain limited time.

Short Length Competition
15 films out of 159 submissions from Japan were screened and the Awards were judged by 3 jury members.
President of the Jury for Short Competition: Shoji Masui (Film Producer)
Juries : Muneyuki Kii (Film Producer), Kiki Sugino (Actress, Film Commentator)

Grand Prize: “Dream Notebook” (2012 / Japan / 25min.) Director: Hiroaki Kakukawa
-Certificate and trophy are given by the festival organizers
-*Trophy and cash prize of 500,000 yen are given by Sony, Sony Business Solutions, and Sony PCL.
-Granted the recipient free access to the equipment at Sai-no-Kuni Visual Plaza for a certain limited time.

Honorable Mention:
“With Little Yuri Episode 1. Sunset 30min” (2011 / Japan / 26min.) Director: Kotaro Wajima
“Trubow” (2012 / Japan / 19min.) Director: Shohei Tada
-Certificate and trophy are given by the festival organizers
-Trophy and cash prize of 300,000 yen are given by Sony, Sony Business Solutions, and Sony PCL.

~SPEECHES at the Ceremony~
Kiyoshi Ueda
Chairperson, SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL Committee, Governor of Saitama Prefecture
“Counting the 9th anniversary, this film festival has been recognized as a gateway to success for young creators and those directors who had been nominated in the past started to be successful. Through the activities of SKIP CITY which is the hub facility of this film festival and the film-related industries, I hope a lot of creators will spread their wings around the world. I thank everyone who loves films and supports this film festival and would like to ask for continuous support.”

Koshiro Okamura
Vice Chairperson, SKIP CITY INTERNATIOANAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL Committee, Mayor of Kawaguchi City
“Amazed and gratified by the increasing level of the nominated films, I would be grateful very much if those creators who are nominated to this film festival could expand their activities from here, Kawaguchi, to the world. I think this film festival is a gateway to success for young creators and, at the same time, a big contribution to broadening opportunities of digital film making.”

[Long Length Competition] Shinya Kawai, President of the Jury
“A good balance is seen among the 12 nominated films of this year because the country of production is all different except those 3 films which were produced in Japan. This film festival is of high quality and can compare favorably with other international film festivals overseas. I wish all the films screened here will be seen all around the world and by more people and feel it is our responsibility to make it happen.”

[Short Length Competition] Shoji Masui, President of the Jury
“I feel there is a similarity in theme and material among the nominated films which means quality films have been made year by year, and their quality has been reached to a certain level. Probably, it is because the drama has emerged as a main theme for the short length films of 30 minutes. I believe the best part of short length films is freewheeling thinking, free of any possible restrictions put by story. I hope the directors continue to make lively and excellent films in this free field of short length films.”

[Long Length Competition/Grand Prize] ”Kuma” Umut Dag, Director
“I am very surprised because even participating in this film festival is a great honor for me and I had never thought I was the one to win this prize. This film is rather complicated and hard to understand for the people who have different cultural backgrounds and it is true that fretted me. I am thankful to my team and the producer for giving me the push. Also, I am very happy that I was given the opportunity to show this film to Japanese audience.”

[Short Length Competition/Grand Prize] ”Dream Notebook” Hiroaki Kakukawa, Director
“Musical film is rarely seen in Japan, so I decided my challenge on this in the field of short length films. I thought of making a totally new film with my viewpoint fostered by being an actor myself. It is the cooperation of the cast, the staff and everyone who gave a support that brought this prize to this film. I started up “Musical of Japan” and make an effort to establish the genre of musical film in Japan.”