The emergence of Japanese film festivals in the Asia-Pacific 1990-2018

ABSTRACT

This article traces the historical transformations of the Japanese film festivals (JFFs) in the Asia-Pacific, reflecting on the reasons behind their emergence and subsequent expansion. It identifies JFFs as cultural diplomacy film festivals due to the participation of the Japanese government in facilitating the events. By situating the analysis within the global, regional, national and local trends that gave rise to the JFF model, we can better understand the roles these festivals have played in the promotion of national cultures abroad since their inception. Drawing on archival materials, personal interviews with the festival organizers, and institutional documents, this essay will show that the developments of JFFs are influenced by several interconnected discourses including the proliferation of the film festival format globally, changes in Japanese cultural diplomacy, the globalization of Japanese popular culture, and soft power discourse in the region. In engaging with these forces, JFFs evolved from sporadic small-scale film screening events with limited international reach to institutionalized festivals characterized by their growing commercial approach and broader programs.

KEYWORDS:

• Film festivals
• cultural diplomacy
• Japanese film festival
• Asia-Pacific
• cultural policy

Acknowledgments

This research is part of my doctoral project, funded by Monash University and the Faculty of Arts. I would like to thank all the festival organizers who spared time to be interviewed and shared useful materials for this research. Special thanks go to my Ph.D. supervisors, Olivia Khoo and Koichi Iwabuchi. My sincerest appreciation to the anonymous reviewer for the helpful feedback. I also extend my gratitude to the editors for their kind assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Even though Iordanova (2010) argues that France offers the most comprehensive film festivals, at the time of writing this paper and to my knowledge, research on French cultural diplomacy film festivals is yet to be published in the English language scholarship.

2. Archival festival documents were obtained, with varying degrees of success, from the Japan Foundation Tokyo, the Japan Foundation Bangkok, the Japan Foundation Sydney and the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur.

3. This study observed ethical considerations in data collection, following the guidelines of Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC) (project number CF16/1805 – 2016000924). All interviewees have provided their written consent to participate in the research as well as publish the data they have provided.

4. JFF Myanmar was organized by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA) in 2016 but this role was taken over by the Japan Foundation from 2017.

5. Data provided by Masafumi Konomi of the Film and Broadcast Media Department, the Japan Foundation, Tokyo. The countries included are Thailand, Singapore, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, India, China, and Brunei.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teck Fann Goh

Teck Fann Goh is a Lecturer in the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University, Australia. Her research interests include film festivals, cultural diplomacy, Asian cinema, popular culture, and audience reception.