We are proud to announce the 9th edition of the festival: NEW CHITOSE 2022 – from November 3rd to 6th, 2022. The submission for all the competitions starts on April 18th.
The 9th New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival will be held at New Chitose Airport, which is making great strides as a gateway connecting Hokkaido and the rest of the world, as well as an entertainment airport. It will be held from November 3rd to 6th, 2022.
Launched in 2014, the festival has been providing an exciting experience that is only possible as a one-and-only “airport festival.” In 2019, the year before COVID-19, it gathered about 43,000 attendees from all over the world, which was the highest number in the history of the festival. In the 2020-2021 Pandemic, the festival took place in a hybrid format consisting of both in-theatre and online, with more than 20,000 online viewers in 2021.

The coming 9th edition will continue to present various programs delivering the look of animation “today” from various perspectives such as special screenings and guest speakers of films the festival picked to feature, in addition to the Competition section which is the main event of the festival receiving more than 2,000 entries from around the world each year. The submission for all the competitions starts on April 18th.

We are excited to introduce Team NEW CHITOSE; the new Festival Programmers and Selection Committee.
Starting this year, the festival will have a new structure for the special program planning and competition selections; Team NEW CHITOSE. The new festival programming team includes Hirotoshi Iwasaki, a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts and an internationally renowned video artist with his unique rotoscope theory, Daisuke Tanaka, an animation researcher, and Manabu Kato from MONSTAR design Inc which is Sapporo-based event production company. The new competition selection committee welcomes two new members: Sarina Nihei, an internationally acclaimed animation filmmaker, and Asuka Yotsumoto, an animation producer from ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC.

Artistic Director Nobuaki Doi will step down as of the 2021 Festival. We will continue to evolve and grow toward the 10th edition of New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival. Don’t miss it!!   Message from Tomoko Ono, Chief Director of the Festival
The New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival will be organized and operated under a new structure “Team NEW CHITOSE” from 2022. I am very delighted and excited to collaborate with internationally active experts and artists with a wide range of animation expertise, and I look forward to working with such esteemed members. We are confident that we have delivered bold selections to date and determined to move the global film festival forward into its milestone 10th year and into the future. Thank you for your continued support!

Message from Nobuaki Doi, former Artistic Director of the Festival
As involved in the unprecedented “Airport Animation Film Festival” since its launch in 2014, I had always been thinking about giving shape to a new type of animation film festival that cannot be found anywhere else. Over the past eight years, I had been able to realize the festival that captures the “now” of animation, thanks to the enthusiastic support of audiences and filmmakers from around the world who have come to the festival because they believe in the vision of the festival. Last year, with the realization of “NEW CHITOSE PITCH”, which created the “future” for filmmakers, I felt that my role in this festival was over, and I decided to leave. Now, as animation is developing in various directions, it is impossible to capture the present and create a future that is meaningful from a single perspective. With the new programming team now in place, I expect that the festival’s unique identity will become even edgier. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone from New Chitose Airport and the festival team who hooked me up, even though I had no background at the time of the establishment of the festival. I have grown a lot. Thank you very much!

The festival is excited to announce “New Chitose Airport Pitch 2021” available online!
This year, New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival holds “New Chitose Airport Pitch 2021” as a new attempt to help Japanese animation filmmakers to spread their wings to the world.

The festival holds the “New Chitose Airport Pitch 2021” as an official program during the festival period for directors and producers who have been selected for the festival’s competition and showcase sections in the previous editions to create an opportunity for them to take the first step toward a new project. The festival welcomes producers associated with the festival and helps the artists to build international networks and connections.

NEW CHITOSE AIRPORT PITCH 2021 (It has English interpreter): https://youtu.be/YeeRvOOo3nk
(Please note; It is available online until November 19, 2021.)

Projects: https://site2021.airport-anifes.jp/en/live/pitch_live/

We welcome international producers or investors who are interested in new projects by outstanding Japanese artists and help the artists to build international networks and connections. If you have some projects you are interested in, please contact us; pitch@airport-anifes.jp

NEW CHITOSE 2021 is honored to announce the Official Award Winners! Congratulations to all the winners. Thank you very much for all the directors, animators, producers and distributors! See you at NEW CHITOSE 2022!!!!!

Please see the detail: https://site2021.airport-anifes.jp/en/competition/awards/

We’d gladly announce the official selection for the Feature Films Competition at NEW CHITOSE 2021. From 39 films submitted from 23 countries/regions, 4 Films are selected. The films will be screened in competition programs during the festival and judged by the jury for the Feature Competition. See you at NEW CHITOSE 2021!

Selection for the FEATURE Films: https://site2021.airport-anifes.jp/en/competition/feature_compe/

New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival 2021 released the VR Signal Film! It’s directed by Japanese Animation Filmmaker YUHARA Kazuki.

Please see the following!
VR mode ☞ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMffr-IveI8
Camera mode (Walkthrough) ☞ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uTC5RSfdKA&t=0s

–
YUHARA Kazuki
Born in Japan in 1996. Currently enrolled in the Animation department at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media, Yuhara graduated from Tama Art University’s Department of Information Design, Art & Media Course. By drawing animations on the whole sky virtually, he makes films and music videos. In 2021, he won the New Face Award in the Entertainment Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival.

We’d gladly announce the selection for the SHORT Films Competition at the New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival 2021. From 2,204 films submitted from 93 countries/regions, 88 Films are selected for all categories.
Thank you all the filmmakers, producers and the distributers for submitting great films.
　
The selection result for the FEATURE Animation Competition will be announced later.
　
Selection : https://site2021.airport-anifes.jp/en/competition/nominate/


Selection Committee
Keitaro Oshima (Associate professor at Hokkaido Information University)
Tetsuji Kurashige (Associate professor at Hokkaido University of Education)
Nobuaki Doi (Artistic Director at New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival)
Tomoko Ono (Chief Director at New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival)

Primary Selection Committee
Yuka Sato (Animation Filmmaker, Assistant at Akita University of Art)
Masahiro Tanaka (Film/animation Researcher, Editor-in-chief of ”tampen.jp”)
Natsumi Tsukamoto (Animation Filmmaker)
Hitoshi Nakagawa (Animation Director)
Takaaki Nomura (Critic, Associate Editor of “Criteria”)

This year, New Chitose Airport International Animation Film Festival holds “New Chitose Airport Pitch 2021” as a new attempt to help Japanese animation filmmakers to spread their wings to the world.

A “Pitch” is a presentation made by a director or producer to pitch an idea of their new project to find a producer or investor. Although it is a common practice worldwide, it is still not very familiar in Japan (especially for filmmakers working on an individual basis).

The festival holds the “New Chitose Airport Pitch 2021” as an official program during the festival period for directors and producers who have been selected for the festival’s competition and showcase sections in the previous editions to create an opportunity for them to take the first step toward a new project. The festival welcomes commentators such as producers associated with the festival and helps the artists to build international networks and connections.

This program is open to the public and will be broadcasted online in the form of a public presentation. We look forward to receiving applications from those who hope to use this opportunity to spread their wings to the world.

Read the guideline (Japanese text only) ☞ https://site2021.airport-anifes.jp/pitch/

Applicants must be Japanese filmmakers and producers, but we welcome producers or investors who are interested in new projects by outstanding Japanese artists. Please contact us to be a commentator for our project; pitch@airport-anifes.jp

Today we opened the submission for the competitions this year. The deadline is June 30th (Short Films) and July 31st (Feature Films). For the short competition, we accept not only short films, but also GIF, motion comics, VR films, and movie installations with the animation technique. Please check the details: https://site2021.airport-anifes.jp/en/competition/

Last year the festival received 2,174 short films (from 91 countries/religions) and 49 feature films (from 21 countries/regions). Among the winners were “Wood Child & Hidden Forest Mother” (Short Grand Prix, directed by Stephen Irwin), “My Favorite War” (Feature Grand Prix, directed by Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen), “The Mark of Emi” (Japan Grand Prix, directed by Momoka Furukawahara), and else.

We also accept the submission via FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/NewChitoseAirportInternationalAnimationFestival

See you at NEW CHITOSE 2021!

We are proud to announce the 8th edition of the festival: NEW CHITOSE 2021 from November 5th to 8th, 2021.

The 8th edition this year is held in a hybrid format consisting of both in-theatre and virtual screenings and events. The festival provides an exciting experience that is only possible as a one-and-only “airport festival”.

Launched in 2014, the festival has been growing. In 2019 the year before COVID-19, it gathered about 43,000 attendees from all over the world, which was the highest number in the history of the festival. Last year, the festival took place in a hybrid format with online screenings that had more than 100,000 views.
The international competition, the main event of the festival, has received more than 2,000 films. Gathering attention from all around the world, now the festival is one of the most prestigious animation festivals in Japan.

The submission of all the competitions this year starts on April 19th. We accept GIF, VR, motion comics, and movie installations with animation techniques. In 2020 “Wood Child & Hidden Forest Mother” (directed by Stephen Irwin) won the Grand Prix (short film) while “The Mark of Emi” (directed by Momoka Furukawahara) received the Japan Grand Prix. Grand Prix for Feature Film was awarded to “My Favorite War” (directed by Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen).

More information will be available soon at the official website. See you at NEW CHITOSE 2021!