ABOUT / MESSAGE
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival is an animation festival dedicated to animated films held at the terminal building of New Chitose Airport (Hokkaido, Japan), which connects Hokkaido with the rest of the world as an entertainment airport.
The festival not only attracts attention as one of the few film festivals in the world where all screenings, lodgings, and stays are completed at the airport but also boasts the largest number of entries in the competition section in Japan. The festival also offers a multifaceted program introducing animation, including lectures by Japanese and foreign creators and exhibitions in public spaces. It has now grown into one of Japan’s top animation film festivals.
For the 11th edition, by utilizing the unique venue for close interaction between guests and audiences and as a “playground” to create new values that extend the significance of animation, we continue to aim to create a cultural exchange center where people can take home the energy.
We believe that by providing animation experiences at New Chitose Airport every fall that will lead to a diverse future, we can cultivate global human resources that will connect with the wider world and ultimately promote cultural tourism in Hokkaido. We look forward to your continued support.
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival Committee
Director’s Message
There is an unspoken rule for an annual film festival: It must continue for at least ten years to be considered “well-established.” After its ten years of continuous journey, our film festival marks its 11th edition this year to start a new endeavor for an even higher-quality international film festival.
Our festival has been developing diverse programs that encompass not only on-screen films but also a broad range of animation in video games and XR, keeping up with the ever-evolving definition of animation. We’ve often heard the comment, “The sky is the limit at this film festival.” It’s a testament to our efforts to make this festival a fun-filled experience. But beyond that, our desire for constant progress always remains. We want our festival to function as a diverse platform for unexpected discoveries that creators would be eager to challenge.
Using an airport as a venue, this film festival is a vast experimental ground itself. Animation has the potential to open up a new possibility beyond categorizing artists’ works as “entertainment” or “art.” Our goal is to develop a playground that expands the significance of animation without restricting its form , hoping to find a hint for what a film festival in the future will be.
This year, we are introducing a new category, “30 Seconds Animation,” where selected films will be broadcast on digital signage throughout the New Chitose Airport. With approximately 22 million annual users, visitors worldwide will have an opportunity to view these films. We hope to be the creative spark for creators as animation art form and the New Chitose Airport amplify each other’s potential. We look forward to seeing you at the festival this November with high hopes for the next ten years and beyond.
Tomoko ONO
