The (also known as the PIA Film Festival or PFF for short) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

established in 1977. According to film scholar Jasper Sharp, the festival "not only ranks as a vital hotbed from which the careers of some of Japan's most talented young filmmakers have been launched, but it also lays claim to being the first ever film festival in Japan."

History

The festival was first held in 1977 as the "Off Theater Film Festival" by the Tokyo listings magazine ''Pia''. Early jury members included

Nagisa Oshima NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...

and Shuji Terayama, and the second festival featured such later star directors as Sogo Ishii,

Yoshimitsu Morita was a Japanese film director who was born in Tokyo. Career Self-taught, first making shorts on 8 mm film during the 1970s, he made his feature film debut with ''No Yōna Mono'' (''Something Like It'', 1981).Mark Schillin"Director Yoshimitsu Mo ...

, and

Shunichi Nagasaki is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Filmography Director *1982 in film, 1982 ''Yamiutsu shinzo (1982 film), Yamiutsu shinzo'' a.k.a. ''Heart, Beating in the Dark'' *1988 in film, 1988 ''Rock yo shizukani nagareyo'' *1988 in film, 19 ...

. According to Bryan Hartzheim writing in 2010, "many of the biggest directors of the last 20 years had their debuts at Pia." Other filmmakers who were screened at the PFF before making their professional debut include Joji Iida,

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...

Akihiko Shiota (born 11 September 1961, Maizuru, Kyoto) is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Career Shiota attended Rikkyo University, where he was in a film club with other students such as Makoto Shinozaki and Shinji Aoyama and began making 8mm fil ...

, Ryosuke Hashiguchi,

Shinobu Yaguchi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He specializes in feel-good "zero to hero" films, where a group of people take up an unlikely activity, face a number of obstacles, but finally succeed. His film ''Waterboys'' was particularly succe ...

, Lee Sang-il,

Naoko Ogigami is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. She first began gaining attention after winning several prizes at the PIA Film Festival for her short film ''Hoshino-Kun, Yumeno-Kun'' (2001). Among her most notable works are her f ...

Kazuyoshi Kumakiri is a Japanese film director. Career Kumakiri debuted with ''Kichiku'' in 1997. His 2001 film, ''Hole in the Sky'', starred Susumu Terajima and Yuriko Kikuchi. His 2004 film, ''Green Mind, Metal Bats'', screened at the International Film Fest ...

Sion Sono Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

Naomi Kawase is a Japanese film director. She was also known as , with her former husband's surname. Many of her works have been documentaries, including ''Embracing'', about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and ''Katatsumori'', about ...

, and Yuya Ishii.

PFF Award

The PFF Award Competition accepts submissions with "no restrictions whatsoever on the eligibility of its entrants" with no regard to whether the work is on film of video, is long or short, is fiction, documentary, or animation. For the 39th festival in 2017, 548 entries were received. Films in the Competition compete for several prizes, including the Grand Prize and the Runner-up Prize, awarded by a jury. The festival also features retrospectives of international filmmakers such as

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...

and

Lee Sang-woo Lee Sang-woo (born February 13, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He rose to fame in the 2007 television drama ''First Wives' Club'', and has since played leading roles on '' The Road Home'' (2009), '' Don't Hesitate'' (2009), ''Life Is Beautiful' ...

PFF Scholarship

Award winners at the PFF are eligible for the PFF Scholarship, which supports the production of one film for theatrical release each year. Begun in 1984, PFF Scholarship films include '' A Touch of Fever'' (1992), ''Down the Drain'' (1993), ''Hole in the Sky'' (2001), '' Border Line'' (2002), ''Yoshino's Barber Shop'' (2003), ''Park and Love Hotel'' (2007), '' A Stranger of Mine'', '' Sawako Decides'', and '' Household X''.Jasper Sharp

References

External links

*{{Official site, https://pff.jp/jp/ Film festivals in Tokyo Film festivals established in 1977