Japan’s Skip City Film Festival continues Hybrid style in post-COVID era

Great news for all cinephiles out there, the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival, in Saitama of Tokyo, will be having its 2023 edition with both offline and online segments, even after the pandemic era which demanded such hybrid arrangements, came to an end.
On June 14, 2023, organizers announced the dates for the film festival, which has been considered a setting for the portrayal of emerging talent since 2004. The in-person edition will be held from July 15 to July 23, while the online edition dates are from July 22 to July 26.
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his year, the festival will commence with the world premiere of “Confetti,” which was produced to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the festival and also the 90th anniversary of its Kawaguchi City base.

The producer at Asmik Ace, Toyoshima Masao, will be heading a jury that determines the section’s prizes, and Variety’s Mark Schilling will also be a part of the jury.
In the international competition, 10 films were picked and nominated from 1,246 films submission from 102 countries and regions. The lineup includes films from nations like Azerbaijan, Syria, and Turkey that are seldom seen in Japan, along with films by new directors worldwide, including Europe, South America, and Japan.

The domestic competition will house six features and eight shorts, along with a live-action adaptation of a popular manga directed by Sanada Mikiya called “A Tail’s Tale.”
Chinese contemporary artist and filmmaker Jiongjiong Qiu’s first fiction feature, “A New Old Play,” which bagged the special jury prize at Locarno, will also have its first screening at the festival.