The Japan Foundation Asia Center has co-organized "Visual Documentary Project" with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University. The project aims to offer a platform for Asian Filmmakers in the region to express their realities through documentaries and introduce them to a broader audience.

In 2016, we called for short documentaries under the theme of "Politics in Everyday Life in Southeast Asia" overviewing various aspects of political expression in everyday life. Award-winning director Rithy Panh from Cambodia and Professor Kenji Ishizaka joined as juries to select short documentaries.

We received 75 wonderful works from across Southeast Asia. Out of 75 works, four successful documentaries were selected. We will screen those works in Kyoto and Tokyo in December. Also, the directors and team members of these works will be invited to Japan for the screening and have a talk and discussion with commentators.

-Event Information-

1. Kyoto Screening (Admission Free. No reservation required. First-come, first-served basis)

[Date] Thursday, December 15, 2016

[Time] 1:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 1:00 p.m.) *You can come or leave any time during the event.

[Venue] Large Meeting Room, 3rd Floor, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, Kyoto University (Address: 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan)

[Language] Japanese with English subtitles and interpretation

[Participants] Directors and team members of the selected works (please refer to the attached sheet)

[Commentators]

  Kenji Ishizaka (Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image)

  Makiko Wakai (Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Tokyo Office)

[Organized by] Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

[Co-organized by] The Japan Foundation Asia Center

2. Tokyo Screening (Admission Free. Priority given to those who have reservations)

[Date] Saturday, December 17, 2016

[Time] 3:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. (Doors open at 3:00 p.m.) *You can come or leave any time during the event.

[Venue] Tokyo Women's Plaza (Address: 5-53-67 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan)

[Language] Japanese with English subtitles and interpretation

[Participants] Directors and team members of the selected works (please refer to the attached sheet)

[Commentators]

  Kenji Ishizaka (Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image)

  Makiko Wakai (Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Tokyo Office)

[Reservation] Please send an email to jfac_vdp_info@jpf.go.jp with your name/affiliation/contact information with "VDP2016 Screening" in the subject line by Thursday, December 15, 2016

[Organized by] The Japan Foundation Asia Center

[Co-organized by] Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

[Supported by] Society for Asian Cinema Studies

*Website: http://jfac.jp/en/culture/events/visual-documentary-project-16121517/

-The Japan Foundation Asia Center- http://jfac.jp/en/

The Japan Foundation is Japan's principal independent administrative institution dedicated to carrying out cultural exchange initiatives throughout the world. The Asia Center, established in April 2014, is a division within the Foundation that conducts and supports collaborative initiatives with its Asian-primarily ASEAN-counterparts. Through interacting and working together in Japanese-language education, arts and culture, sports, and grassroots and intellectual exchange, the Asia Center pursues to develop the sense of kinship and coexistence as neighboring inhabitants of Asia.