TEAM NEWCHITOSE
Selection Committee for Short Films and 30 Seconds Animation
ONO Tomoko
IWASAKI Hirotoshi
TANAKA Daisuke
NIHEI Sarina
Selection Committee for Feature Films
ONO Tomoko
TANAKA Daisuke
ONO Tomoko
Director
ONO Tomoko (1976, Sapporo) graduated from Division of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, Hokkaido University. She has been working as the Chief Director for New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival (Chitose, Hokkaido) since the first edition of 2014.
She managed an event hall in Sapporo for 5 years since 2008, screening various independent films. She has also organized many screening events in Hokkaido. She also curates live action and animated films, and has curated animated short films at film festivals in Japan and abroad, including TOPU International Animation Week (China), Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2025 (Japan), Toshima Art Summer Festival (Japan) and more.
IWASAKI Hirotoshi
Program Advisor
Hirotoshi Iwasaki (born in 1981, he/him) is a filmmaker and artist. He earned a Doctorate in Fine Arts from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2019. He primarily creates experimental animated works using the technique of rotoscoping, in which live-action footage is traced to produce animation. He is also active as a researcher of rotoscoping, having developed an original theory that focuses on the act of tracing itself and the hybrid images that emerge from the process.
His work crosses boundaries between the fields of fine art, film, and advertising, and has been exhibited at galleries and museums both in Japan and internationally. In 2015, he won the Grand Prix at the Holland Animation Film Festival. As a commissioned artist, he has provided animation and illustration for clients such as Calvin Klein, Coldplay, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe. His advertising-related projects with Dentsu Inc. have received awards from THE ONE SHOW, NY ADC, and Tokyo ADC. He has also collaborated on several documentary films, including Beyond Utopia, which was nominated in the Documentary category at the 2024 BAFTA Awards, where he was responsible for the animation segments. His work continues to receive recognition across multiple disciplines.
Since 2022, he has served as a selection committee member for the Short Film Competition at the New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival. Currently, associate professor at Nagoya Zokei University, part-time lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media Department of Animation.
https://hirotoshiiwasaki.com/
TANAKA Daisuke
Program Advisor
Daisuke Tanaka(born 1993, he/him) is an animation researcher based in Tokyo. He is the editor-in-chief of tampen.jp, the selection committee and programmer for New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, the selection committee for Mainichi Film Awards animation division (Noburo Ofuji Award). He has distributed Xi Chen's film Chicken of the Mound in Japan, planned Xi Chen's solo exhibition Ink Myth: A Symphony of Creatures and Contradictions in Japan(CALM & PUNK GALLERY, Tokyo). His other activities include planning and managing of independent animation screening events, writing, lectures and more.
http://tampen.jp/
NIHEI Sarina
Program Advisor
Sarina Nihei (she/her) is a freelance animation director from Japan. Being obsessed with Estonian animation, she decided to pursue a career in animation. She is a graduate of London's Royal College of Art. Her graduation film from the RCA, 'Small People with Hats', won prizes at festivals around the world including the Ottawa International Animation Festival, HAFF, and British Animation Awards. Specialising in hand-drawn animation, she loves to make surreal stories.
https://cargocollective.com/sarinanihei
YOTSUMOTO Asuka
Program Advisor
Asuka Yotsumoto is an animation producer at ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC., a film production company based in Tokyo. Her production credits include a lot of animation films, such as branding movies, advertisements and TV programmes for children such as NHK ETV "Otoppe”, "What is Normal, anyway?”, and ”Blue•Yellow”. She has also produced exhibition movies for SNOOPY MUSEUM TOKYO, etc.
https://www.robot.co.jp/
KATO Manabu
Program Cordinator
President, MONSTAR design Inc. After working in the web operation for Kodansha Magazine, Manabu joined a startup of mixi’s Monster Strike as a character director. He has also worked as a producer for various events utilizing Japanese TV anime series. Most recently, he has been collaborating with anime series, which have allowed him to create products that have churned out quite the hype. No matter the extent of his creativity and imagination, the world waits with anticipation for what he has yet to produce.
https://mon-star.net/
