KYOTO FILM FESTIVAL

[mikiro KATO]

?Kyoto Film Festival Is a Festival of the Film Capital of Japan?

??In the coming era of information-oriented society, the film industry is 
expected to contribute to the production of high-tech visual software.  The
sophisticated methodology of film-making will meet an ever greater demand
in the new context of borderless culture.  ?Cine-City Kyoto? is the place 
where a century of film-making has accumulated its own highly developed
methods and techniques.

??The history of Japanese films began in Kyoto.

??In 1897 Katsutaro Inabata, a Kyoto entrepreneur, brought home from Franc
e a cinematograph and some rolls of film, and made the first test-shooting
in Japan.  Kyoto since became the center of Japanese film-making,
attracting major film companies and studios, such as Nikkatsu, Shochiku,
Toei, Daiei, and various production companies run by film stars, thereby
spawning innumerable talents for the cinema. Naturally. it was a Kyoto film
that brought the first international film prize to the postwar Japan:
Rashomon (1951) was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice International
Film Festival.  This achievement was immediately followed by a series of
Kyoto-made films sweeping various prizes in Venice and Cannes: Gate of Hell
(1953); Ugetsu(1953); Sansyo the Bailiff(1954). Thus Kyoto films
established the international reputation of Japanese cinema.  It is no
exaggeration to say that the history of Japanese films was made in this
city.The traditional craftsmanship that supported the early prime of
Japanese film-making survives to this day in the Toei Kyoto Studio and the
Shochiku Kyoto Eiga Studio, both located in Uzumasa, the area known for
Toei Uzumasa Eiga-mura (Toei Uzumasa Movieland), a popular spot for
tourists. Currently the city of Kyoto is planning the construction of
another institution for film-culture, tentatively called Kyoto Nijo
Cultural Institution, near the JR Nijo Station.  Also, Kyoto Film Institute
offers full opportunities for technical learning in its advantageous
surroundings. Recently, a couple of remarkably successful events
reconfirmed the name of the?Cine-City Kyoto?: Kyoto International Film Fes
tival in 1994 and Cinema 100: Kyoto International Festival in 1995.Kyoto
has been the leading city in the past century of Japanese film-making.  The
future of our film culture will draw much on the vitality of this city.

??This year we are celebrating the centenary of Kyoto film-making, and we 
are more than ready to meet the new century.  The reinforced collaboration
of municipality, film industry, individual film artists, and various
research institutes will further encourage creative, educational, and
scholarly
activities in this capital of Japanese cinema.

??Kyoto Film Festival is a manifestation of our determination to play an a
ctive role in the future of Japanese cinema.

??Kyoto Film Festival is markedly different from any of the innumerable fi
lm festivals yearly held all over the world; it is unique in its diversity.
In addition to film-showings and symposia on a variety of topics, our
projects include the official commendation for artistic and scholarly
achievements, and active participation in film-making itself.  We are
developping plans, long-term and many-sided, involving a number of people
both domestic and abroad, that are only possible in?Cine-City Kyoto?.
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KYOTO FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS THE ?CINE-CITY KYOTO?
 TO THE WORLD

The Purpose of Kyoto Film Festival

??Here in Kyoto, now it is necessary to look back upon its long history--o
ne hundred years--of film-making, and at the same time, to aim at the
creation of a new cinema culture by making use of the talents, crafts, and
experiences still preserved in this city, which fostered the art of
Japanese film. It is for this purpose that we are holding an international
film festival, through which the city of Kyoto declares its intention to
re-create itself as ?Cine-City? in the centenary year.

Basic Concepts of the Festival

1.Cinema is a synthetic art, covering such various fields as literature,
music, fine arts, traditional popular entertainment, and so on.  The
principal aim of the festival is to contribute to the education of the
pioneers for a new cinema culture, and to promote a stronger and wider
connection, in relation to film art, between culture and industry, by
making use of its rich cinematic heritage and various talents gathered here
in ?Cine-City Kyoto?.
??
 2.We are to offer a space in which the people of Kyoto can communicate
with people from all over the world through a "universal language"of film.
??
3. We provide films in which Kyoto takes pride and propagate the concept of
?Cine-City Kyoto? in terms of of production, appreciation, and study of fi
lms, by awarding the talented people in the field of film art, promoting
academic studies of Japanese cinema, etc.

4.We hold various events which hopefully appeal to the people of Kyoto as
well as film-lovers of every part of the world.
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Period
December 6th (Sat) to 14th (Sun), 1997

Hosts
 Kyoto Film Festival Organizing Committee and the City of Kyoto

General Producer
Sadao Nakajima   (Film Director, Professor of Osaka University of Arts)p


??Events to Date??

??On February 22 this year we held a promoting event for Kyoto Film Festiv
al, which featured showings of the restored version of  What Made Her Do
That? , a film produced by Teikoku Kinema in 1930, Kolya (1995, Czech,
England, and France), the recipient of the grand prize at the Tokyo
International Film Festival in 1996, Kura 1995, Toei-Matsu Production, and
Samurai Detective Onihei(1995, Shochiku and Fuji TV)--the last two films
were made in Kyoto.  There was also an interview of the actor Matsukata
Hiroki by Professor Nakajima 
Sadao, titled "A Star Looks Back over the Hundred Years of Kyoto Film-Making."
??What Made Her Do That?   is a film which deals with an unfortunate life 
of a girl, a plaything of a cruel fate, who ends up by setting a church on
fire.  It was a great commerical success, and was also nominated the best
film of the year by Kinema Jumpo (Motion Picture Magazine).  Long believed
to be lost, this film was lately found in Russian National Film Archive
GOSFILMOFOND, and brought back to Japan by Yamakawa Teruo, a grandson of
the founder of Teikoku Kinema.  It was then restored, with Japanese
subtitles, by the cooperative work of the City of Kyoto and Osaka
University of Arts.  Upon its screening, Gunter A. Bochwald, a noted
film-accompanist, came from Germany, under the auspices of Gotethe Institut
Kansai, with his original score for this film and perfomed it, conducting
the Kyoto 
Symphony Orchestra.
??Some of the films on this promoting occasion, including What Made Her Do
That? , were screened again on February 26 and 27 in the city.  Total
number of attendance for the three days was approximately 2,200 and these
programs were widely reported in various newspapers and on TV.

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?THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE PERIOD FILM?

1. Screening of Films, etc.

Program 1   Celebrating ?Cine-City Kyoto???

??In addition to screening works which were produced in Kyoto, we hold a s
ymposium in order to examine the ways in which the films made in Kyoto have
influenced foreign films in terms of technique, hoping that this gives a
good opportunity to discuss the past, the present, and the future of?Cine-C
ity Kyoto? from various perspectives.

?Screenings
?Period Films of the First Golden Age--From Silent Films to Talkies
??We are screening films made in Kyoto in the period from 1925 to the begi
nning of the 1930's, the First Golden Age of the period film.  They are of
special importance in the history of Japanese cinema.

?Tributes to Yorozuya Kinnosuke & Katsu Shintaro
??We will show films starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke and Katsu Shintaro,  supe
rstars in the postwar period films.  In some cases completely new prints
were made for this occasion.  Before the screening of Yorozuya's film,
those who knew him will talk about this great actor.(Some of the films will
have English subtitles so that the participants in the UNFCCC will have an
opportunity to appreciate Kyoto as?Cine-City?.)

?Symposia
?Round Table Talk Concerning the Period Film
??Actors, actresses, directors, and other staff who are involved in making
period films in Kyoto will talk about their experiences.

?International Symposium: The Period Film and the World Cinema
??We hold an international symposium in which film directors and film crit
ic-scholars, domestic and abroad, discuss the attraction and the
individuality of the period film, its relationship to the Japanese culture
in general, and its influence on foreign films.
(We are planning to publish the content of these symposia in print afterwards.)

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?KYOTO, WHERE HISTORIES OF WORLD FILMS CROSS OVER?

Program 2. Focus on International ?Cine-City Kyoto ???

??We offer many programs in which international communications are sought 
by means of the film, an "universal language".  This being the centenary
year of Kyoto film-making, we look back on the film history of Japan and
that of other countries in the world, focusing mainly on the very beginning
of that history.

?Early Films
??European and Japanese films from 1890's to 1920's are shown to commemora
te the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the film art to Japan.
Scheduled program: early films of U.K.,France, Germany, and Italy are put
on the screen according to the planning of the cultural institutes
representating these three countries.

? Independent Programs of European Cultural Institutes
??Various programs dealing with European films will be prepared by Europea
n cultural institutes based in Kyoto.
Scheduled Program:
1.Screenings
?The 100 years of exchanges between Japanese and French films; films shown 
by Institut FrancoJaponais ?
?du Kansai.
?Oskar Messter, the pioneer of the German cinema; films shown by Goethe-Ins
titut Kansai.
?British cinema today: films shown by the British Council.
?Classic films shown by Instituto Italiano di Cultura-Kyoto.
2.Exhibitions
?An exhibition on the British film history.
?The pioneer of the German cinema: an exhibition on Oskar Messter.


?SCREENING OF BRAND NEW FILMS
?PRACTICAL FILM-MAKING SEMINAR ??
?FOR STUDENTS LED BY ?
?PROFESSIONALS

Program 3. Screening of the Invitation Films

? Advance Screening of the New Films of 1998
Japanese and foreign films which will come out next year are shown in advance.

?The winners of Tokyo International Film Festival
Prize-winning films at the International Competition in Tokyo International
Film Festival (which will take place in November this year) will be shown
for the first time in Kansai.  The Grand Prix films are also shown to
provide an occasion for people living in Kansai to appreciate those
valuable films which are difficult to see.


Program 4. Kyoto International Student Film Festival

We offer an occasion for film students to exchange opinions and to study
practical film-making from the professional, in the hope that in the "City
of Students", Kyoto, they take an active part in the Festival 
and vitalize the amateur film making.

?Screenings
1. Selected Films of Independent Productions
??Contest of student films (8mm., video tape, etc.): those made in 1996 an
d 1997 by college 
students will be judged, and the prize-winning films will be put on the screen.
??Screening of films made by students of film schools or other visual art-
oriented schools.  (There may be preliminary selections.)
2. Special Screenings
??Films which are awarded in student film festivals in Europe, and those m
ade by young directors will be put on the screen.  New films by students in
Hong Kong and Korea will also be shown.

?Events
1. Practical Film-Making Seminar
??Practical seminars on camerawork, lighting, sound-recording and editing 
will be given, in cooperation with Kyoto Film Institute, so that students
can study the professional method of 
film-making.
?Workshop 1: courses on camerawork, lighting, recording, editing and direction.
?Workshop 2: courses on introduction and practice of the digital film-editing.

2. Symposium
??There will be a symposium in which film directors and students discuss t
he future of the film.

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?COMMEMORATING UNFCCC?

Program 5. Special Programs and Cosponsored Programs

?Independent Programs of Wings Kyoto (Kyoto City Women's Center)
??Films for women by women; screenings of films directed by women.

?Special Programs
??Films concerned with the environment of the earth are put on the screen 
to commemorate UNFCCC.
??

Other Programs

? An Interim Report on the Subsidizing of a Film on Kyoto.

? The Award Ceremony of the Kyoto Film Prize for Distinguished Service(See 
p.10).

?The Award Ceremony of the Kyoto Film Culture Prize (See p.11)

? The Opening and the Closing Ceremonies

?Venues

1. Kyoto Kaikan (1st hall)  (2015 seats)
2. Kyoto Kaikan (2nd hall)  (946 seats)
3. Gion Kaikan  (502 seats)
4. Kyoto North Culture Center Hall  (405 seats)
5. Kuretake Culture Center  (600 seats)
6. Avanti Hall  (362 seats)
7. Wings Kyoto  (240 seats)
8. Kyoto Asahi Cinema 2  (63 seats)
9. Kyoto Lifelong Education Center  (400 seats)
10. Former Meirin Primary School
11. Kitaoji Town Center Plaza

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?THE SUBJECT MATTER IS "KYOTO" 
THE CITY OF KYOTO SUBSIDIZES YOUR FILM PRODUCTION?

2. Invitation to the Subsidizing Plan for 
?Your Film Production

??We invite your plan, both from Japan and from abroad, to produce a film 
which deals with the City of Kyoto.  There will be a selection and awarding
of the prize.  The City of Kyoto will subsidize up to 100 million yen for
the plan of the first prize.  The prize film is to be screened not only in
Kyoto but all over 
Japan, and it must be entered in various international film festivals and
competitions.

?Now Accepting Filming Plan Submissions
I. The Kyoto Film Festival 
The Kyoto Film Festival will be held once every two years. During the
interim period Kyoto City will subsidize one new film production to be
shown at the next Kyoto Film Festival. After the premiere, the film is
expected to be 
publicized nationwide.
II. Film Production Subsidy
The office of the Kyoto Film Festival Organizing Committee is calling for
submission plans for film productions from both Japanese and overseas
entrants. The Committee will examine the contents of each submitted plan
and award the 
subsidy to the most appropriate work.
1. Suitable production concepts
a. The theme of the film must be "Kyoto". The film should be a narrative
work, be acceptable to a wide audience,and be filmed in part on location in
Kyoto. The film should not be a promotional vehicle for business, religion
or politics.    As part of the Kyoto Film Festival, the work must be shown
to the general public at a cinema or an event hall for over one week with
admission fees.
b. Running time of the film should be around 100 minutes. In principle, a
35 mm positive screening print should be used.
2. Subsidy amount and limit
Half of the production cost will be subsidized up to a ceiling limit of one
hundred million yen.
(In principle,subsidy is paid after completion of film.)
3. How to apply
a. A production plan (including the objective of the film, the script or a
detailed synopsis) should be submitted together with a production cost
estimate, a funding plan, production schedule and screening plan.
Applications  should be submitted to the office of the Kyoto Film Festival
Organizing Committee,Kyoto
Kaikan(Annex),Saishoji-cho,Okazaki,Sakyo-ku,Kyoto 606 Japan.
b. Applications will be accepted from late June until November 30, 1997.
4. Selection process
Judges will be appointed by the Kyoto Film Festival Organizing Committee .
Judges will exercise impartiality in the selection.
5. Results
Results will be announced by the end of March 1998.
6. Film production
Film production should be scheduled between April 1998 and the end of March
1999.
7. Return or cancellation of the subsidy
Subsidy funds will be cancelled and paid monies returned in the following cases:
a. If the completed film is not shown publicly.
b. If the completed film differs considerably from the submitted plan.
III. Copyright and Distribution Revenue
Kyoto City retains copyright to the amount of the subsidy ratio. Kyoto City
will receive appropriate royalties on revenues generated from distribution
and screenings (including revenues from secondary showings on TV, video,
etc.).All proceeds 
received by Kyoto City will be used for the promotion of arts and cultural
activities.
IV. Submission to International Film Festivals
In principle, the work must be submitted to international film festivals
outside of Japan.

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?HONORING THOSE WHO SUPPORTED KYOTO FILMS?

3. Kyoto Film Prize for Distinguished Service

??We establish the Kyoto Film Prize for Distinguished Service, honoring th
ose "unsung heroes, "such as the staff of film studios, who contributed to
the development of the Kyoto film-making by their 
creativity and distinguished techniques.

??Cinema is a synthetic art.  Films are made by the cooperative efforts of
directors of photography, gaffers, recording engineers, film editors and
others.  This, of course, holds true of those made in?Cine-City Kyoto?.How
ever vast the progress of digital technology may be, a film is made by the
sensibility of the director and the staff.  The technique which
professionals have fostered for the past 100 years will give suggestions in
the new century of the visual art.  The aim of the prize is to re-evaluate
those professionals in this age of the advanced visual technology.  The
winners are chosen from all the people involved in every aspect of film
making.  The prize will be given at the award ceremony which takes places
during the Kyoto Film Festival.

4.The First Kyoto Film Culture Award  

??Kyoto Film Culture Award is founded, as befits the birthplace of Japanes
e films, in the hope that by awarding a work which has contributed to the
study of Japanese cinema we can encourage the further 
study of this important subject.

??Kyoto Film Culture Award is the first official prize in the world for th
e study of Japanese cinema.  Detailed information for application will be
advertised in July through the media and the internet.  Manuscripts will be
closely examined by learned experts, and the winner will be officially
commended at the Festival and receive a prize of one million yen.  The
subject matter should be Japanese cinema.  Since the purpose of this prize
is to stimulate research activities on Japanese film culture, we expect a
contest on a high level.  We do not, however, set a border between
professional and amateur researchers.  Non-academic participants are also
welcome.

? Content
The submitted material (monograph, critical essay, biography,
autobiography, etc.) should deal with Japanese cinema. As a rule, only
unpublished work will be under consideration, but those published after
January 1, 
1995 will be accepted. We also accept recommendations.

? Requirements
The length of the piece is not limited, but it should be written in
Japanese.  Handwritten manuscripts will not be accepted.  Please use a word
processor.  Authors should submit a brief summary using less than 2000 
letters.  The name, age, address, and telephone number must be given.  
The closing date for application is September 1, 1997.  
Manuscripts should be sent to the following address: 
Kyoto Film Festival Organizing Committee Office  
2nd Floor, Kyoto Kaikan (Annex), 13 Saishoji-cho, Okazaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto,
606 Japan.

? Announcement of the Result
During the Film Festival (on December 14,1997 at Kyoto Kaikan  ) and  on
the www site of Kyoto Film Festival (URL:
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/film-fes/)

? Prize
One million yen for the first prize

? Judges
Hasumi Shigehiko,Kato Mikiro,Matsumoto Toshio,Tsutsui Kiyotada,and Yamane Sadao

 ? Sponsors
The City of Kyoto and Kyoto Film Festival Organizing Committee  

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?PUBLICATION OF A NEW STUDY ON THE HISTORY OF THE PERIOD FILM?
5. Commemorative Publication

??As a centenary memorial, we are planning to publish a scholarly work on 
the history, the genre, and the characteristics of Japanese period films. 
The book will be composed of two parts, Part 1 "A Survey of the History"
and Part 2 "New Perspectives"; the latter will provide alternative
viewpoints (sociological, structural, etc.) for the appreciation of the
period film, with contributions from overseas.  The projected price of the
book is approximately 2,000 yen, and it will be made available in
bookstores all over the country.

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??Kyoto Film Festival Organizing Committee??

?President Emeritus?    Yorikane Masumoto?     Mayor of Kyoto
?Advisors?      Kazuo Inamori? Chairman,The Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
 Isao Matsuoka? President,Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan,Inc.
 Shigeru Okada? President,Federation of Japanese Film Industry,Inc.
 Toru Okuyama?  President&Chief Exective Officer,Shochiku Co.,Ltd.
Toshihiko Ishida?      President,Toho Co.,Ltd.
 Tan Takaiwa?   President,Toei Co.,Ltd.
 Yasuyushi Tokuma?      President &Chief Exective Officer,Daiei Co.Ltd.
 Masaya Nakamura?       Chief Executive Officer,Nikkatsu Corporation
 Harumasa Shirasu?      President,Foreign Film Importer-distributors Associ
ation of Japan 
 William J. Ireton?     Chairman,Motion Association
Kinji Fukasaku?        Director,Directors Guild of Japan
 Nagisa Oshima? Film Director
?President?     Morihiro Omoda ?       Vice-Mayor of Kyoto
?Vice Presidents?       Masao Sato?    Director,Toei Co.,Ltd.
Yoshinobu Nishioka?    Production Designer,President?Eizo Kyoto Film.Co.

??????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????
???????????????????????????
      Kato Mikiro, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies,
                               University of Kyoto
?????E-mail  :   kato at www.cmn.hs.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp
??????????????????????????????