About

The world connects through films-

In the 5th century NARA was at the cultural intersection of people from around the world.
Those encounters brought them excitement and influenced the creation of new culture.

Inheriting this cultural legacy, we hope to breathe new life into Nara's history through film.

With our utmost gratitude for all the support and contributions we have received,
we sincerely hope you join us in experiencing special moments at the 4th Biannual Nara International Film Festival.

Welcome to Nara International Film Festival

This year is the fourth Nara International Film Festival, a biennale event that started in 2010.
Having received so much support, we are delighted to announce the opening of the Nara International Film Festival 2016. It is truly a great honor and pleasure for us to be able to welcome you.

During the preparation for the 4th film festival, we had a series of unexpected difficulties. Most of them were hard to overcome, and we felt we couldn't go any further. However, while struggling against the wind, we saw many supporters who said, "We love Nara International Film Festival, and "We need Nara International Film Festival." They cheered for us and reached out to us.
We received a lot of encouragement as well as severe comments.

Each of the Organizing Committee members was encouraged. We were determined not to give up. We decided to take an action to improve. The road to the opening of this year's festival wasn't smooth, but everything was deeply inspiring.

We should like to extend our appreciation to every one of you who spoke out and helped us. It is you who let us declare the opening of Nara International Film Festival. Thank you very much for everything. We sincerely appreciate your support.

Many people are now here to meet through movies in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan and a place of interaction over 1300 years ago. We hope that this festival gives a chance to talented, emerging filmmakers to achieve a great leap in their abilities.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the beginning of exciting 6 day-festival!
Welcome to Nara International Film Festival 2016.

Satoko Nakano

History

2008

The intercultural film event between Thailand and Japan
Nara International Film Festival Symposium - Guest: Mr. Isamu Tatsuno (Montbell Chairman), Alex Kerr (Scholar)

2009

Film screening, live performance, and talk show
Outdoor screening event + "beauty" premium talk show
Screening of kids movie + kids event
Outdoor screening of "SHARA" + dance performance
Shooting of NARAtive 2010 film "bion" & "Last Chestnuts"

2010

September: The 1st Nara International Film Festival

2011

March: NARAtive 2010 "BION" "Last Chestnut" Screening Event with Kaori Momoi & Naomi Kawase
April: Shooting of NARAtive2012 "Inori"
May: Announcing the concept of "3.11 A Sense of Home Films" at Cannes Film Festival
September: Screening of "3.11 A Sense of Home Films" at Kinpusenji Temple in Yoshino
September: PRE FIESTA 201

2012

June: The Reconstructive Support Event for the Nara southern area in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo
April-July: Workshop with Hakuho junior high school in Katsuragi city, Nara
August: NARAtive 2012 "Inori" won the Golden Leopard Award at the 65 edition of the Locarno Film Festival
August: Workshop with Todaiji junior high school
August: NIFF 2012 Pre-event: Screening of "Suzaku" with Machiko Ono & Naomi Kawase
September: The 2nd Nara International Film Festival
November: NARAtive 2012 "Inori" won the Best Mexican Documentary at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia in Mexico

2013

January: Supported a 16-year-old film maker to shoot his first short film "Kasabutatan"
April: Nara Cinematheque (monthly screening event) started. Guest: Kazuyuki Izutsu, Hirokazu Koreeda
August: NARAtive 2014 "FANTASIA" shooting
December: HEAD GENEVA UNIVERSITY OF ART AND DESIGN x NIFF 3-week workshop "Grand Voyage"

2014

April: Nara Cinematheque (monthly screening event since 2013)
September: The 3rd Nara International Film Festival

2015

June: NARAtive 2014 project "A Midsummer's Fantasia" was released in Korea, attracting over 35,000 audience in 3 months
September: The 3-day outdoor screening "Movies in the Park" held in Nara Park
December: The filmmaking workshop with the 5th graders at Doshisha International Academy Elementary School

Story of Logo

The NIFF logo is originated from the traditional Japanese roof tile. The tile with a cherry flower design was discovered from the remains of the Heijo palace, where the emperor's residence and governement office existed when Nara was the capital of Japan 1300 years ago. The cherry flower is a symbolic icon of the ancient capital. The 5 petals and 7 dots inside of them represent the 5 continents and 7 seas of the world, and the 24 dots around the flower represent the film basic of 24 frames per second.

Management

Organizer: NPO Nara International Film Festival Committee
Addr: Takeda Bldg. 3F, 36 Shimosanjyo-cho, Nara City, 630-8236, Japan