Nippon Connection


Nippon Connection is a festival for Japanese film which takes place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, every year in early summer.
The festival is organized by the nonprofit organization “Nippon Connection e.V.”. Nippon Connection has become the biggest platform for contemporary Japanese film worldwide, with about 17,000 participants in 2019.

History

In 1999 two German students of film studies, Marion Klomfass and Holger Ziegler, decided to show some Japanese films at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. The organizers began by planning for 1,500 visitors, but interest quickly grew and the first edition of the festival in 2000 had more than 10,000 visitors. Thirteen films were screened, and two Japanese filmmakers attended that year.
After a one year break, during which the non-profit association Nippon Connection e.V. was founded, the second Nippon Connection Film Festival took place. The festival center was located at the Students’ House of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. In 2002 a new category for digital productions was created. As well, an exhibition was arranged in cooperation with the :de:Künstlerhaus_Mousonturm|Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and the Nippon Connection Newcomer Award for the best up-coming film production was introduced.
At the Nippon Connection Film Festival 2003, a retrospective was held the first time in cooperation with the :de:Deutsches_Filmmuseum|German Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main. Additional events were also organized in cooperation with the :de:Literaturhaus_Frankfurt|Literaturhaus Frankfurt.
In 2004 parts of the program were sent on tour to Leipzig and Barcelona. The festival organizers were invited to Tokyo to take part in a symposium on the impact of Japanese films abroad by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs.
In 2005 the tour program was extended and the Nippon Cinema Award was introduced.
In 2007 the Kinema Club held its first European conference at Nippon Connection. That year 170 films were shown.
For the 10th anniversary in 2010, the Nippon Digital Award was established to support rising talents. The winner, chosen by a professional jury, receives a free subtitling for his or her next film. The Nippon Digital Award was renamed in 2011 into the Nippon Visions Award.
2010 was the last year that parts of the Nippon Visions section, which focuses on independent productions, were distributed worldwide to cities including New York, Barcelona, and Berlin under the designation Nippon Connection Film Festival on Tour.
In 2012 the children’s program Nippon Kids was established. From 2012 until 2014, the VGF Nippon in Motion Award was given to the director of the best 12-second spot.
In 2013, the festival was extended to six days, and the main venues were moved to the :de:Künstlerhaus_Mousonturm|Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and Theater Willy Praml in der :de:Naxoshalle|Naxoshalle. Further venues include the cinema at the :de:Deutsches_Filmmuseum|German Film Museum, the Mal Seh’n cinema, the gallery Ausstellungsraum Eulengasse, and the theater :de:Kabarett_Änderungsschneiderei|Die Käs. Also in 2013 the festival director Marion Klomfass received an honorary award for her outstanding commitment to the support and promotion of Japanese-German exchange from the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In 2014 the Nippon Visions Award became the Nippon Visions Jury Award. Also, an audience award, the Nippon Visions Audience Award, was created. That year the festival drew more than 16,000 visitors.
The 15th edition of the festival in 2015 saw the introduction of the Nippon Honor Award for personalities who have made an outstanding contribution to Japanese cinema in their careers.
In 2018 the new section Nippon Docs was introduced.
Directors and actors who have attended the festival: Koji Yakusho, Shinobu Terajima, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Shinya Tsukamoto, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Toshiaki Toyoda, Yuki Tanada, Koji Wakamatsu, Isao Yukisada, Ryuichi Hiroki, Sakura Ando, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Miwa Nishikawa, Shuichi Okita, Koji Yamamura, Shinuske Sato, Koji Fukada
In 2020, due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID 19 pandemics, the festival took place exclusively online for the first time from 9 to 14 June 2020. Tokachi Tsuchiya received the Nippon Online Award for the documentary film An Ant Strikes Back for the first time.

Programme

Each year Nippon Connection shows more than 100 short and feature films, mostly as German, European or international premieres. The film program is divided into five sections: Nippon Cinema, Nippon Animation, Nippon Visions, Nippon Docs and Nippon Retro. Many Japanese filmmakers present their works personally and participate in panel discussions. In 2019 more than 70 filmmakers and other artists from Japan visited the festival.
The Nippon Culture section presents lectures, performances, and workshops on various topics of Japanese culture. This includes tea ceremony, taiko drumming workshops, Japanese calligraphy, dance and martial arts performances. In the evenings, there are usually live concerts or parties. International experts on Japanese film give open lectures about various aspects Japanese cinema.

Award Winners

Nippon Connection Newcomer Award
Nippon Cinema Award
Nippon Digital Award
Nippon Visions Award
Nippon Visions Audience Award
Nippon Visions Jury Award
Special Mention: Friendship by Mikihiro Endo
Special Mention: Treasure Ship: Latitudes of Lust by Koichiro Ikawa and Dual City by Yokna Hasegawa
Special Mention: Under the Cherry Tree by Kei Tanaka and The Man Who Was Eaten by Keisuke Kondo
Special Mention: Going the Distance by Yujiro Harumoto
Special Mention: Of Love & Law by Hikaru Toda
Special Mention: Blue Hour by Yuko Hakota
VGF Nippon in Motion Award
Nippon Honor Award
Nippon Online Award
The corporate design of the festival has been one of its trademarks since it was first held in 2000. The colors range from soft rose colors to bright pink.

Music

In addition to the film and cultural programs, the festival team has created music CDs. Sounds recorded in the Tokyo subway were used by German musicians to produce an imaginary soundtrack of the Japanese megacity. This album, Nippon Connection – The Tokyo Metro Soundtrack, was released in 2003 by Label Ckp. In April 2005 the second CD album, Nippon Connection Exchanging Tracks, was released by das modular. Two traditional Japanese pieces of music were made available to 28 remix artists in Europe and the US, who then produced their own personal soundtracks. The festival team gave these compositions to Japanese film directors, who created short films under the project name Exchanging Tracks.

Organization

The festival is organized by the non-profit association Nippon Connection e.V. on a voluntary basis. The organizational team consists of more than 70 people. During the festival, more than 100 additional volunteers support the team. The budget is made up of the festival’s revenues as well as several subsidies and sponsorship payments. Nippon Connection is a member of the Verbund hessischer Filmfestivals. In 2019 Peter Feldmann, Mayor of the City of Frankfurt, and the Consulate-General of Japan acted as official patrons of the festival.