- Full Video for Symposium Focusing on Southeast Asian Film Industry "Now" Available Online -

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA), a qualifying film festival for the annual Academy Awards (R) and one of Asia's largest international short film festivals, has joined hands with the Japan Foundation Asia Center, which carries out various cultural exchange projects with the objective of fostering mutual understanding between Japan and other Asian nations, to establish a symposium program and short film screenings that focus on Southeast Asia. The video recording of the initial symposium event, which welcomed film professionals from various countries to discuss "the current status and future of Southeast Asian short films," is now available in full via the SSFF & ASIA project website:

http://www.shortshorts.org/southeast_asia/

The symposium addressed four primary topics: 1) How short film is positioned and considered by the film industry in each country; 2) What the situation is of short film production in each country; 3) How the skills of up-and-coming filmmakers are being nurtured in each country; and 4) How Southeast Asian countries can work together to support each other in the future. Various areas relating to film funding and film exploitation were covered, including the importance of addressing issues such as human rights and health care when looking to raise production funds from NGOs. Panelists reported that the number of short film productions in countries across the board is rising thanks to the widespread availability of digital cameras and editing software, although rates of economic growth and the support system provided by the state differs for each country.

Furthermore, there is a guest column published regularly on the project website where essays by guest writers discussing film production in Southeast Asia are uploaded.

Symposium panelists

- Yosep Anggi Noen (Filmmaker/Producer, Indonesia)

- Chea Sopheap (Deputy Director, Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, Cambodia)

- Derek Tan (Co-founder, Viddsee.com, Singapore)

- Athidxay Bouandaoheaung (Manager/Co-founder, Doklao Media Center/Co-founder, Lao New Wave Cinema Production, Laos)

- Marie-Elaine Riou (Programmer/Short Film Market Director, Saguenay International Short Film Festival, Quebec, Canada)

- Bertrand Rouchit (Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival Head of Children/Young Audience program, France)