Kadoma International Film Festival is a community-based film festival in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan. We launched in 2018 and went international last year. We continue to welcome Foreign (Non-Japanese) Films from all across the world!
Welcoming filmmakers from all over the world to Kadoma has been the ambition of us from the beginning. Our mission is to encourage interaction among filmmakers regardless of their continents or languages. In 2019 we stepped forward to make our dream come true, having screened 48 foreign films and met nearly 20 guests from overseas. The enthusiasm attracted the coverage from newspapers, radios, and TV media, too!
The winners of 2019 can be seen here. https://kadoma-filmfes2019.themedia.jp/pages/3135659/page_201908181343
Kadoma is a commuter city in Osaka, probably most famously known for the Panasonic headquarter, but strangely it's a city without a single movie theater. In 2016 our festival director Takashi Nasu founded Kadoma Film Commission to produce community-based films and invite filmmakers to the city of Kadoma. With the enthusiasm and passionate encouragement from the Kadomanians, he launched the film festival in 2018 without any official funding. The movie-loving Kadoma people voluntarily participated in running the festival. For the huge success, the festival and the director have been honored with the regional development and cultural activities awards.
The city of Kadoma is surrounded by the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara. Therefore, it's a good hub for sightseeing as well. You are guaranteed with big smiles and good hearts from the people of Kadoma. We grant artistically-made certificates by calligrapher Taijun Nagayama, including Governor's Award and Mayor's Award in addition to the regular awards.
We are also preparing a launch of On-Demand distribution service, if you are thinking of a way to distribute in Japan.
The 2020 Foreign (Non-Japanese) Film categories accept:
Narrative Feature
Narrative Short
Documentary Feature
Documentary Short
Dance Feature
Dance Short
Animation Short
All submissions must be in Non-Japanese language, except for Dance, which must be made by a Non-Japan-based company/production.
After a film has been officially selected, the filmmaker will be notified.
Awards will be announced at the award ceremony on the last day of the festival. The winners will be handed artistic certificates written by renowned calligrapher Taijun Nagayama.