The festival
The Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) is a festival devoted to Asian cinema, held each March in Osaka, Japan. It grew out of an earlier Korean-focused event and was broadened to cover films from across Asia, and today presents a wide-ranging selection of new features from the region.
Worth knowing
OAFF is regarded as one of Japan's key windows onto contemporary Asian filmmaking, with particular attention to emerging directors and titles that may not otherwise reach Japanese audiences. The festival runs over roughly ten days in early spring.
How to attend
Screenings are open to the public with tickets sold for individual films at participating Osaka cinemas. Many screenings feature guest talks with visiting filmmakers.
Awards & submissions
OAFF’s Competition section, established in 2011, awards a Grand Prix chosen by the jury to the best film, along with a Most Promising Talent Award and the sponsor-backed ABC Award for the most entertaining title among the new films, each carrying a cash prize. Devoted to contemporary Asian cinema, the festival gives particular attention to emerging directors and to titles that might not otherwise reach Japanese audiences, and many screenings feature guest talks with visiting filmmakers. It runs over roughly ten days in early spring at participating cinemas around Osaka, with tickets sold to the public for individual films. Filmmakers can enter through the festival’s annual film-entry process — competition features are Japan premieres of 60 minutes or longer — with categories and deadlines published on the oaff.jp website.
Official site →Dates and programs change year to year — check the official site for the current edition.