We wrapped up the fourteenth edition of the CAMERA JAPAN Festival in Amsterdam last night. Today we have the pleasure of announcing the winner of the 2019 Audience Award.
After counting all the votes in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Fly Me to the Saitama stays at the top of the rankings ahead of Sending Off, a powerful and respectful documentary about the end of life from director Ian Thomas ASH.
Sharply, but lovingly depicted by director TAKEUCHI Hideki (武内英樹), Fly Me to the Saitama (翔んで埼玉) is a colourful modern fable that satirizes the class war between city dwellers and small-town folk. The film had its Dutch première at the 2019 CAMERA JAPAN Festival.
The Top 5 are:
1. Fly Me to the Saitama
2. Sending Off
3. Every Day a Good Day
4. Penguin Highway
5. My Dad is a Heel Wrestler
The previous winners of the CAMERA JAPAN Audience Award are One Cut of the Dead (2018), A Silent Voice (2017), Flying Colors (2016), Kakekomi (2015), Uzumasa Limelight (2014), Tokyo Family (2013), Kamome Diner (2012), Bunny Drop (2011), Wig (2010), Osaka Hamlet (2009), Fine, Totally Fine (2008), Tekkon Kinkreet (2007) and Hibi: Days of Fire (2006).