The 2021 CAMERA JAPAN Award

The 2021 edition of CAMERA JAPAN has now wrapped. A big arigato for all your support!

Today we are pleased to announce the winner of the 2021 Audience Award. After counting all the votes in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Ushiku stays at the top of the rankings. Congratulations to director Thomas ASH.

To make this important documentary, ASH used a hidden camera to interview inmates at the Ushiku immigration centre near Tokyo about their treatment and Japan’s uncompromising refugee policy on the eve of the COVID-19 outbreak.

We are particularly pleased to find that CAMERA JAPAN audiences enjoy and appreciate the variety of films our programmers pick out for the festival.

The top 5 films are:

1. Ushiku
2. Junk Head
3. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
4. Under the Open Sky
5. The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill

The previous winners of the CAMERA JAPAN Audience Award are ON-GAKU: Our Sound (2020), Fly Me to the Saitama (2019) 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).