24th DigiCon6 ASIA Summary
Participating Regions
Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand
Schedule
24th DigiCon6 ASIA Awards ceremony
November 19, 2022 at Marunouchi Hall Tokyo in JAPAN
Judges
SUGINO Kiki Actress, Director, Producer profile
Shuzo John SHIOTA President & CEO, Polygon Pictures Inc. profile
ANDO Kohei Film-maker, Professor Emeritus of Waseda University profile
Karen Severns Writer, Programmer and Educator profile
Neco Lo che-ying Animation producer and critic profile
Edmund Yeo film Director profile
SUGINO Kiki
Actress, Director, Producer
Born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1984. Kiki debut in the Korean film, “One Shining Day”(2005).
Then appeared in “Time“(2006) by Ki-duk Kim. From 2008, she starts producing movies. She won Best Picture and Best Actress Award by starring and producing the movie “Hospitalit´e”(2010) by Koji Fukada. Sugino also appeared and produced “Odayaka”(2012) by Nobuteru Uchida and “Au revoir l’été “ by Koji Fukada, etc. She was chosen by the Jury at International Film Festival Rotterdam for the first time of Japanese in 2014.
She started directing “Kyoto Elegy” (2014). Her second featured film, “Taksu” won the
Rising Director Award at Busan International Film Festival. Directed and starring “Snow Woman”(2016), premiered at the competition Tokyo Film Festival and she won the Jury Prize at the QCinema IFF. She recently appeared in “I WANT TO BE LOVED” (Ronan Girre), “Natsu-Itarutokoro” (Elaiza Ikeda) “A picture with Yuki” (Lachezar Avramov), “Love Mooning” (Kunitoshi Manda) , etc.
Message
Touching the talents and languages of Asian countries through DigiCon6, and think about various countries.
I am happy to have this one and only experience every year.
Shuzo John SHIOTA
President & CEO, Polygon Pictures Inc.
Shuzo John Shiota was raised in the United States and is a graduate of the Sophia University Faculty of Law, Department ofInternational Legal Studies. After joining the Nippon Steel Corporation in 1991, Shiota went on to participate in the launch of Dream Pictures Studio in 1997. He moved to Polygon two years later and in 2003 assumed the position of President and CEO. As studio head Shiota has spearheaded efforts to cultivate Polygon's overseas presence, helping the studio to become a leading developer of TV series and content targeted at the foreign market.
Shiota has also served as a judge at major Japanese and international film festivals including Prix Ars Electronica (AUS), SIGGRAPH (U.S.) and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France). In 2008, he was selected as one of the "25 Toon Titans of Asia'' by popular industry publication Animation Magazine. He also presided as conference chair for SIGGRAPH Asia in December 2021, and in 2022 received a Special Achievement Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival. His hobbies include playing in a band.
Message
The virus, war, heat waves. The list of deeply troubling developments is endless. My curiosity is aroused, and I am eager to see how you have digested these phenomena and sublimated them into expressions that only you can make. I also believe that such expressions have the power to free our agonized minds, as we are confronted with the same phenomena, it resonates and produces empathy. It is precisely in times like these that we need your works.
ANDO Kohei
Film-maker, Professor Emeritus of Waseda University
Ando, who in his youth worked with Shuji Terayama who was very famous poet, author and film director in Japan, is known for his refined and creative expressivity as a filmmaker. He is a global pioneer to incorporate Hi-vision techniques in film making. His many films have received numerous international awards, including the Silver Maile Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival and the Grand Prize at the International Electronic Cinema Festival in Montreux etc.. His works are included in the collections at major art museums and film libraries in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo and elsewhere. In both 2001 and 2005, his retrospective exhibition had been held in Paris.
Message
Freedom meens getting back your own images. Forget others and pursue only beauty and truth.
Karen Severns
Writer, Programmer and Educator
Karen Severns has worked in New York and Tokyo as a filmmaker, film critic and programmer, journalist and advertising executive. She holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University and an MS in Journalism, and currently teaches film courses at Temple University Japan and Tokyo University of the Arts. She has been the film series curator at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan since 2008, and a programmer for the New York Asian Film Festival since 2015. She is a founding partner of Tokyo-based KiSMet Productions, a boutique film production/promotion company involved in transnational projects.
Message
The pandemic underscored the essential role of art in our lives, even as it posed era-defining challenges and forced artists to find new ways of expressing themselves and staying connected. It’s thrilling to be able to meet the creators in person once again, and I’m anticipating stellar work at this year’s DigiCon6 Asia.
Neco Lo che-ying
Animation producer and critic
Neco Lo che Ying is an experienced animation producer and director who began working as an independent animator in 1977. Most of his animation won awards at the Hong Kong Independent Short Film Festival (now IFVA) and were shown at film festivals worldwide. This year, Neco’s animation is collected by the M+ museum in Hong Kong as permanent collection. He also worked as animation designer at Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) between 1978 and 1993, and was responsible for numerous educational animation and opening titles. Since the 80s, he has written extensively about local and world animation as well as teaching animation in various universities. In recent years, Neco has been a tireless campaigner for Hong Kong animation, and has curated a number of exhibitions on the history of Hong Kong and Taiwanese animation since 2006. He currently serves as the secretary general of the Hong Kong Animation Industry and Cultural Association and has just published a new book on the current animation field of Hong Kong.
Message
Looking forward to see the best animation and short films from Asian visual creators !
Edmund Yeo
film Director
Edmund Yeo is a Malaysian filmmaker living and working in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. His short films, KINGYO (Venice Film Festival 2009) and INHALATION (Sonje Award winner, Busan International Film Festival 2010) secured his reputation as a promising filmmaker. In 2017, he won the Best Director award at the Tokyo International Film Festival for his sophomore feature AQERAT (We, The Dead) (Japanese title: アケラット−ロヒンギャの祈り). His latest film is MOONLIGHT SHADOW ムーンライト・シャドウ (2021) starring Komatsu Nana and Miyazawa Hio, based on a Banana Yoshimoto's popualar novella.
Yeo is also noted for his long-term collaboration with fellow Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin ウー・ミンジン, being involved as producer, editor or co-writer in Woo's films, like WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER 水辺の物語 (Venice Film Festival 2009), THE TIGER FACTORY タイガー・ファクトリー (Cannes Director's Fortnight 2010) and STONE TURTLE (FIPRESCI Prize winner at Locarno Film Festival 2022).
Message
After enduring three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that nothing is able to dim the flames of creativity displayed by artists and creators of visual storytelling around the world. Despite the crisis, filmmakers everywhere have continued to work and create and inspire and entertain. I'm absolutely honoured, as a jury member, to immerse myself in these great works at DigiCon6.