5th OKINAWA INTERNATIONAL MOVIE FESTIVAL

Again this year for our "Special Screening" division, we have selected charming films - a lineup overflowing with variety - sure to earn fervent support from movie fans.

This year's "Comedy of Japan," "Comedy of the World" division will be produced by Tetsuo Takahira, who previously worked on such popular shows as Oretachi Hyokin Zoku (Our Funny Tribe) and Waratte Iitomo! (It’s OK to Laugh!) Please look forward to the fantastic comedy titles that Takahira, who has associated with such comedians as Tamori and Toru Yuri, will select.

At "Sakurazaka Film University," at Sakurazaka Theater, one of the sites for the film festival, entertainers from Yoshimoto Kogyo will become lecturers, so guests will be able to learn about movies from a variety of angles. In addition, new ways of watching movies will be suggested. While the films are screening, live commentary will be given by entertainers who are fans of the films, giving a superb and unique flavor to the movies. Also, actors and producers from the films will appear as special (guest) lecturers, and guests will have the rare chance to hear secret stories about filming.

This year will feature one more event, the introduction of the "Deru-cine" division, a movie screening program in which guests participate, planned by Piper's Hirohito Goto. Short films of about 30 minutes, with the extra scenes removed, are prepared beforehand. In this program, these films are used, and supplementary filming is done around Okinawa. The day of the screening, those how have come to the venue as guests are divided into 5-7 groups, perform filming at locations around Okinawa, and appear as extras. Following that, the pre-filmed movies and extra scenes are edited together, and everyone watches the completed product together. This is a program in which all can share not only the joy of "watching," but also that of "participating."

This year, there will be a newly established "Uchina Movies ~Journey to Special Location~" division, in which there will be special showings of both old and new films set in Okinawa. Why not rediscover the appeal of Okinawa through this special film collection, selected by movie lovers who reside in Okinawa?

OIMF collaborates with Short Short Film Festival & Asia, Japan’s lone film festival that is certified as Academy Award’s official film festival. Five short films are co-produced as Special Invitation Films.

“Owarai (Comedy) Life” is a comedy content distribution service provided by Softbank Mobile.

Users can enjoy four types of video content: "Aim High! The World's Best App for Laughter Convenience," "Short Film Channel," "Owarai Channel," and "Entertainers' Recommended Gifts.“

In "Short Film Channel," one of those options, Yuichi Kimura, who is also successful as a movie director, takes the role of editor. Entertainers are the directors, and the short films they produced are currently being distributed. These works, which were directed by various entertainers in genres from comedy to drama to anime, do not fit within conventional boundaries and use emotion only an entertainer could have produced.

The works are seeing praise as movies that are not only interesting, but reveal a new side of the entertainers. At the movie festival, we have invited the entertainers who actually directed the films on the "Short Film Channel," and with editor Yuichi Kimura, we will continue from last year in having a film screening party and talk show.

Nico Nico Doga will offer a new way to appreciate movies. The films being shown on the stage will also be broadcast live through "Nico Nico Live Broadcast," and while guests at the venue for the "Okinawa International Movie Festival" and users on the Internet are watching the films at the same time, they will be able to share their thoughts through comments.

At the bottom of the screen, the voices of users viewing the video on the Internet and guests at the venue will continuously flow by, making for a new style of screening party in which films can be enjoyed while viewers communicate with each other through the film itself.