Beyond the Frame Festival

JPEN

Jump out ofthe rectangular screenand step into an infinite world.

Beyond the Frame Festival
2021.2.12 - 21
Go to the Shinjuku Venue(Reservation required)Experience it Online

* Online screening will be available after December 16, and it will only be limited to select films.

CONCEPT

For more than a century since the film was born,
creators have devoted enormous energy
and passion to creating numerous works
and various techniques of expression
to embellish them while fascinating people.

And now, video expression is moving beyond
the traditional horizontal frame
to include 360, 180, and vertical formats
that have never been seen before,
with even creators of brand-new works
that combine video expression
with the latest technologies such as VR, AR, and AI.

At Beyond the Frame Festival,
we will introduce works
that boldly take on new challenges
without being bound by conventional frames
in hopes to respond to the trend of the times
and accelerate the development of visual culture.

The festival will also make every effort
to help such filmmakers spread
their wings to the world.

VENUE

Hotel Century Southern Tower 21F
ENTRANCEXR is an umbrella term to encompass VR, AR, and MR. With the use of this technology, XR films are being created every day, attracting attention at the world's three major film festivals and other film events around the world.

At the upcoming Beyond the Frame Festival, we will be showcasing a lineup of XR films selected from all corners of the globe. Co-hosted by CinemaLeap Inc. and Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the festival will be held at the physical venue at Hotel Century Southern Tower in Shinjuku in addition to online streaming available for select films. The physical venue, located in the Southern Tower, will be specially designed and installed with all the necessary equipment and devices to offer an immersive experience. With advisors on-site to provide technical assistance, even those who are new to XR can easily enjoy the virtual world. Visitors joining us from their homes can use their own VR goggles, and some of the films are available for viewing with smartphones and computers.

For the online talk sessions, we have invited guests from Japan and overseas. Events will be held to cover a broad range of genres that are sure to inspire audiences of all levels of expertise from those who are keen on making XR films to those who want to be updated on the latest global trends, or those who just want to get a feel for XR.

At a time when it has become difficult to go out freely into the real world, we wish to offer an experience that will make you feel like you have stepped out into the infinite world through XR films.
Go to the Shinjuku Venue(Reservation required)Experience it Online

* Online screening will be available after December 16, and it will only be limited to select films.

OUTLINE

  • Dates

    [Shinjuku Venue]
    Thursday, December 16 - Sunday, December 19, 2021, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
    * Hours on Thursday, December 16, 2021, will be 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm

    [Online]
    Thursday, December 16, 2021 - Saturday, January 15, 2022

  • Venue

    [Shinjuku Venue]
    Hotel Century Southern Tower 21st Floor
    Party Rooms Haruka and Tenku
    (Address: 2-2-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 151-8583)

  • Event

    ・Screening and streaming of select XR films from Japan and overseas
    ・Online talk events on various topics related to XR films

  • Fees

    (１) 3DoF VR Film Experience (Select two films from a choice of four for an immersive experience)
    Duration: Approx. 30 min.

    (2) 6DoF VR/AR/MR Film Experience (All you can experience within the provided duration)
    Duration: Approx. 80 min.
    Fee: 2,500 JPY (tax included)
    * With 3DoF, the devices track the rotational and tilting movements of the head and neck, while the 6DoF devices track the movements of the entire body in addition to the head and neck for immersive film experiences.
    * The films available with 6DoF are scheduled to be four VR works and three AR/MR works.

    (3) Online screening is free

  • Languages

    Japanese and English

  • Age

    Over 13 years old (Consistent with the age rating of the special devices)

FESTIVAL
AMBASSADOR

  • Singer, Artist

    KOM_I

    KOM_I

    Artist born in 1992 and raised in Kanagawa. KOM_I’s talent was discovered at a house party, and she was invited to join the musical group, Wednesday Campanella, as the vocalist. The group toured and performed at festivals in Japan and around the world. KOM_I departed the group in September 2021.
    In 2019, the artist released “YAKUSHIMA TREASURE”, a musical production created with Oorutaichi based on their fieldwork project in Yakushima Island, with a series of performances to follow. The innovative musical experience, “YAKUSHIMA TREASURE ANOTHER LIVE from YAKUSHIMA” is available online for your listening pleasures.
    (https://another.yakushimatreasure.com/)
    KOM_I is currently visiting the Kumano region with Oorutaichi to prepare for the next new release.
    She has also started a collaborative project with OLAibi from 2020.
    KOM_I is deeply inspired by classical North Indian music, Noh theater, and the music of the Ainu people, and she is currently expanding her musical horizons through these influences.
    Her talents go beyond music and extend into fashion, art, culture, and other various fields.
    In 2020, KOM_I and art director Minori Murata launched “HYPE FREE WATER”, creating fictional advertisement artworks in a project to raise concerns about water and the global environment. KOM_I is an active participant in projects that address social issues.

    KOM_I SNS
    Instagram: @kom_i_jp
    (https://www.instagram.com/kom_i_jp/)
    Twitter: @KOM_I
    (https://twitter.com/KOM_I)

    I am excited to announce that the VR film festival, which commenced just this year, will be held for the second time. No competitions were held this time, but it was a challenge to choose the best of the best nonetheless. The fact that I was able to view all the films gave me the chance to free myself from the preconceptions I had about VR. I would like for everyone to experience as many films as possible, and I will endeavor to provide adequate introductions of these immersive creations so that the audience can discover the films that appeal to their tastes and preferences. Thank you and let the festival begin!

ONLINE
EVENT

Opening Event

  • Monday 13th of December: 19:00-20:30 JST

    [Opening Session] What to see at BTFF? Enjoy XR films in Shinjuku!90 minutes

    Beyond the Frame Festival ambassador KOM_I and XR content producer Katsutoshi Machiba will guide you through the featured highlights of this film festival! Learn about the most exciting points and attractions of the festival lineup with concise information on all you need to know before you visit the Shinjuku venue.

    • ・KOM_I (Singer & Artist)
    • ・Katsutoshi Machiba (XR contents producer)
    Watch Archive

Talk Event

  • Tuesday 14th of December: 19:00-20:30 JST

    The Potential of XR Films for Crossing the Boundaries Between Real and Virtual90 minutes

    Featured are filmmakers who experiment with forms of visual expression through not only VR but also AR and MR. We will be discussing the differences in the methods for creating cinematic imagery––comparing those of the present with the past––to shed light on the potential of XR film in the coming years.

    • Moderator：
    • ・Tom Kawada (Developer and Eldest Brother of the AR Three Brothers)

    • Panelists：
    • ・Keisuke Itoh (VR animation director / Director of "Clap")
    • ・Aaron Bradbury (Director of “Fragments”)
    • ・Gordon(Author, art director and director / Director of “The Little Dancer”)
    Watch Archive

Talk Event

  • Tuesday 16th of December: 20:00-21:30 JST

    Co-creating the Future with XR Creators – Meet the Torchbearers that Support Creators Venturing into the World of XR90 minutes

    The talk session will feature a panel of key figures representing film festivals, markets, and art centers from around the world, including the Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan, NewImages Festival in France, and the PHI Centre in Canada. Takahiro Okamoto of Odakyu Electric Railway will moderate the session and delve into what efforts are being made in each country to support creatives who take on the challenges of visual expression through XR.

    • Moderator：
    • ・Takahiro Okamoto (Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd.,)

    • Panelists：
    • ・Grace Lee (Curator｜Kaohsiung Film Festival XR Dreamland)
    • ・Michael swierczynski (Newimages festival Director- Forum des images)
    • ・Myriam Achard (Chief New Media Partnerships & PR / PHI Centre)
    Watch Archive

XR
EXPERIENCES

6DoF VR

  • The Book of Distance

    The Book of Distance

    The story of Yonezo Okita, who left Hiroshima for Canada in 1935 and overcame hardship in the war and lived through concentration camps, told by his grandson, the director of this film.

    • DirectorRandall Okita
    • CountryCanada
    • CategoryAnimation
    • Duration25min
  • Clap

    Clap

    Thread Man is the main character who lacks such self-confidence to a point that he has shrunken into a thread-like existence. One rainy day, Thread Man devises a way to play music using an empty can, and for the first time, receives applause from an audience. However, the applause gradually weighs heavily on him as he feels its immense pressure…

    • DirectorKeisuke Itoh
    • CountryJapan
    • CategoryAnimation
    • Duration13min
  • Battlescar - Punk was invented by girls

    Battlescar - Punk was invented by girls

    1978 New York City. Lupe, a Puerto Rican American 16 year old, meets Debbie on the cell of a juvenile detention center. Debbie will introduce Lupe to the punk rock scene of the Lower East Side and the secret worlds of Alphabet City. BattleScar is an exploration of identity through immersive storytelling in VR.

    • DirectorMartin Allais & Nico Casavecchia
    • CountryFrance, USA
    • CategoryAnimation / Drama
    • Duration32min
  • Spheres

    Spheres

    Uncover the hidden songs of the cosmos through this powerful, immersive spectacle that fuses art with science. Join with the universe and bring life to the veiled symphony of sound and light. Japanese narration: Tina Tamashiro, Tomoe Shinohara, Mari Natsuki

    • DirectorEliza Mcnitt
    • CountryUSA
    • CategoryDocumentary
    • Duration38min
  • samsara

    Samsara

    In the near future, the Earth's environment is completely destroyed by the human race. We have to abandon it and find a new home in space. Many years go by we suddenly realize that we didn't reach a new world but returned to Earth in another time as a different life form, and our ancestors now are predators to us. Then, we realize that time is an illusion; our past, present, and future are fused together.

    • DirectorHsin-Chien Huang
    • CountryTaiwan
    • CategoryAdventure / Science Fiction / Animation
    • Duration21min

* Some films do not have Japanese/English subtitles/dubs.
* Featured films may be added or changed.

3DoF VR

  • MOWB

    MOWB

    The story of a parent and child woven in a mother's womb. We are led by the umbilical cord to witness the endless chain of life between parent and child.

    • DirectorEliza Mcnitt
    • CountryUSA
    • CategoryDocumentary
    • Duration38min
  • Replacements

    Replacements

    An animated film about a Javanese family living in an alley in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

    • DirectorJonathan Hagard
    • CountryJapan, Indonesia, Germany
    • CategoryAnimation
    • Duration12min
  • Home

    Home

    During one summer afternoon, all the relatives gather at the grandmother's house. The family spends a moment with her, then goes back to their daily lives.

    • DirectorHSU Chih-Yen
    • CountryTaiwan
    • CategoryDrama
    • Duration18min
  • MARCO & POLO GO ROUND

    MARCO & POLO GO ROUND

    Marco & Polo Go Round is a comedic love story with a very surreal twist. A couple confronts the difficulties in their relationship as gravity turns on its head and their world literally falls apart around them.

    • DirectorBenjamin Steiger Levine
    • CountryCanada, Belgium
    • CategoryAnimation / Romantic Comedy
    • Duration14min

* Some films do not have Japanese/English subtitles/dubs.
* Featured films may be added or changed.

AR

  • Fortune

    Fortune

    Money, from bills to coins, has no intrinsic value beyond what we’ve collectively agreed to grant it. However, there’s no denying that money governs our lives. This series of animated documentary shorts in AR for smartphones, tablets and social media platforms, explores that relationship.

    • DirectorNicolas Bourniquel
    • CountryFrance, Canada
    • CategoryAnimation / Documentaly
    • Duration4min
  • Acqua Alta - Crossing the mirror

    Acqua Alta - Crossing the mirror

    Acqua Alta tells the story of a woman, a man, a house. A daily routine, absurd and filled with discrepancies. But one wet rainy day, their life is turned upside down: the rising waters drown their home in an ink-coloured sea. The woman slips and disappears. Only her hair remains, and it is alive.

    • Artistic DirectorsAdrien Mondot, Claire Bardainne
    • CountryFrance
    • CategoryAnimation / Drama
    • Duration15min
    • Adrien M & Claire B, “Acqua Alta - Crossing the mirror”, ©AdrienM&ClaireB
  • The Little Dancer

    The Little Dancer

    In this experience in co-production with the Musée d’Orsay, the dancer has fallen for young imperial prince Eugene. In order to bring him to life and free him from his frozen sculpted world, she must go from painting to painting, among the renowned masterpieces in art history, and gather the ingredients of a magic potion…

    • DirectorGordon
    • CountryFrance
    • CategoryEducation
    • Duration30min

* Some films do not have Japanese/English subtitles/dubs.
* Featured films may be added or changed.

MR

  • Fragments

    Fragments

    ‘Fragments’ is an immersive documentary. Presented in a mixed reality format, it uses volumetric live capture to journey into the mind of Lisa as she remembers her lost love, Erik. Within a fractured room, fragments of past memories appear of their life together. Over time the memories become entangled with a haunting vision and eventually gravitate to the shocking moment of Erik’s death.

    • DirectorAdrien Aaron Bradbury
    • CountryFrance, England
    • CategoryInteractive Documentary
    • Duration15min

* Some films do not have Japanese/English subtitles/dubs.
* Featured films may be added or changed.

Go to the Shinjuku Venue(Reservation required)Experience it Online

* Online screening will be available after December 16, and it will only be limited to select films.

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Cooperation

文化庁ARTS for the future!

Supported by the Arts for the Future! program operated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.

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odakyuSYNCAKEISUKE ITIOH VR & 3DCG CREATION

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