Rotterdam Votes for the 2021 Audience Award

After four days packed with film screenings in Rotterdam, Ushiku from director Thomas ASH tops the Audience Award rankings. Using a hidden camera, ASH interviewed 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. The top ten titles so far are: […]

The 2020 CAMERA JAPAN Audience Award

It was a wrap at CAMERA JAPAN in Amsterdam last night. A big thank you to audiences and volunteers in Rotterdam and Amsterdam for making the fifteenth edition such a great experience despite the strange circumstances. Today we are pleased to announce the winner of the 2020 Audience Award. After counting all the votes in […]

ON-GAKU tops the Audience Award rankings after Rotterdam

On-Gaku: Our Sound leads the Audience Award rankings after four days of CAMERA JAPAN in Rotterdam. A dryly comical, minimalistic animation from IWAISAWA Kenji about three good-for-nothings who decide to form a band. Impressively, the director also handled most of the animation himself. Top 10 1. ON-GAKU: Our Sound 2. Romance Doll 3. Voices in […]

Yes! CAMERA JAPAN 2020 Is On

The CAMERA JAPAN team looks forward to welcoming all CAMERA JAPAN fans, film fans, Japan aficionados, casual visitors, and newbies to the 15th edition of the CAMERA JAPAN Festival in Rotterdam and Amsterdam this September and October. We kick off at WORM on Wednesday 23 September followed by four days of screenings and side programmes […]

The Audience Award Goes to Fly Me to the Saitama

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 […]

Youth Jury Award to Melancholic by TANAKA Seiji

For the first time in its history, CAMERA JAPAN Festival invited seven young film lovers to form a Youth Jury. After watching six films in four days, all made by directors under the age of 35, the jury awarded their prize to Melancholic by TANAKA Seiji. Melancholic revolves around a university graduate who lands himself […]

Fly Me to the Saitama soars in the Audience Award ranking!

After four full days of screenings at Rotterdam, the audience favorite is Fly Me to the Saitama from director TAKEUCHI Hideki. Packed with humour and plenty of action, the film is a satirical fable about the class war between Tokyo and Saitama (the metropolis vs. the sticks). So far, the top ten films in the […]

Call for Volunteers

Do you like film, have a thing for festivals, or Japanese culture? Are you looking to gain work experience or extend your network? Then join our team as a volunteer for CAMERA JAPAN from 3-6 October at Filmtheater Kriterion in Amsterdam! Knowledge of Dutch is not required (though can be handy). We are looking for: […]

CAMERA JAPAN 2016 - Directors KAWAI Ken, SUGITA Masakazu, and MIMA Akihiro enjoying the cat sofa.

Help us bring Japanese directors to Rotterdam!

As you probably know, CAMERA JAPAN is a non-profit festival organised by a team of dedicated volunteers. Like so many other cultural organisations, we depend on subsidies to bring a bit of Japan to the Netherlands. Fortunately, we have good financial support from Rotterdam Festivals, the Nederlands Filmfonds, the Isaac Alfred Ailion Foundation, and the […]