MPA reveals winners of Japan location film competition at Tokyo Film Festival

The Motion Picture Association announced the Japan Location Short Film Competition winners at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

There were 110 entries showcasing 37 of Japan's 47 prefectures. The entries were judged on the filmmaker's ability to capture the landscape, people and unique features that make it a premier destination for film and television production.

The winners are:

• MPA Grand Prize: Arcadia of the Orient: Okitama Region, (Yamagata Prefecture) by Sakiko Tagawa
• Japan Tourism Agency Prize: Koromogawa: A river side village in Michinoku (Iwate Prefecture) by Yu Yaekashiwa
• S. Embassy Tokyo Prize: Tsumagoi-mura, (Gunma Prefecture) by Satoshi Toda
• Digital Hollywood University Prize: The World Through My Eyes, (Multiple locations) by Katsuki Murai
• Japan Film Commission Prize: Scenery of Takahama: A seaside town, (Kunamoto Prefecture)
• MPA Member Studio Companies Japan Prize: City of Kitakyushu, (Fukuoka Prefecture) by Hinako Sato

Campaign partners included Japan Tourism Agency, U.S. Embassy in Japan, Digital Hollywood University, Japan Film Commission, KEIDANREN (Japan Business Federation), the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and the active participation of Japan’s provincial film commission offices across the country.

President and managing director Asia Pacific, Motion Picture Association Belinda Lui said: “Japan is primed to become a powerhouse destination for film and television production. It has a rich tradition of cinematic excellence, an abundant pool of emerging creative talent and an attractive new production incentive that has captured the attention of the global film industry.

She added: "The location competition revealed a new generation of talent stepping up to produce the shows of tomorrow.”

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) serves as the leading voice and advocate of the motion picture, home video, and television industries and its member studios are Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery.