Nippon Connection is a festival for Japanese film which takes place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, every year in early summer. The festival is organized by the nonprofit organization “Nippon Connection e.V.”. Nippon Connection has become the biggest platform for contemporary Japanese film worldwide, with about 18,500 participants in 2023. The 24th festival edition will take place May 28 to June 2, 2024.
History
In 1999 two German students of film studies, Marion Klomfass and Holger Ziegler, decided to show some Japanese films at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. The organizers began by planning for 1,500 visitors, but interest quickly grew and the first edition of the festival in 2000 had more than 10,000 visitors. Thirteen films were screened, and two Japanese filmmakers attended that year.
After a one year break, during which the non-profit association Nippon Connection e.V. was founded, the second Nippon Connection Film Festival took place. The festival center was located at the Students’ House of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. In 2002 a new category for digital productions (Nippon Digital) was created. As well, an exhibition was arranged in cooperation with the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and the Nippon Connection Newcomer Award for the best up-coming film production was introduced.
At the Nippon Connection Film Festival 2003, a retrospective (Nippon Retro) was held the first time in cooperation with the German Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main. Additional events were also organized in cooperation with the Literaturhaus Frankfurt.
In 2004 parts of the program were sent on tour to Leipzig and Barcelona. The festival organizers were invited to Tokyo to take part in a symposium on the impact of Japanese films abroad by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkacho).
In 2005 the tour program was extended and the Nippon Cinema Award was introduced.
In 2007 the Kinema Club held its first European conference at Nippon Connection. That year 170 films were shown.
For the 10th anniversary in 2010, the Nippon Digital Award was established to support rising talents. The winner, chosen by a professional jury, receives a free subtitling for his or her next film. The Nippon Digital Award was renamed in 2011 into the Nippon Visions Award.
2010 was the last year that parts of the Nippon Visions section, which focuses on independent productions, were distributed worldwide to cities including New York, Barcelona, and Berlin under the designation Nippon Connection Film Festival on Tour.
In 2012 the children’s program Nippon Kids was established. From 2012 until 2014, the VGF Nippon in Motion Award was given to the director of the best 12-second spot.
In 2013, the festival was extended to six days, and the main venues were moved to the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and Theater Willy Praml in der Naxoshalle. Further venues include the cinema at the German Film Museum, the Mal Seh’n cinema, the gallery Ausstellungsraum Eulengasse, and the theater Die Käs. Also in 2013 the festival director Marion Klomfass received an honorary award for her outstanding commitment to the support and promotion of Japanese-German exchange from the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (Gaimu Daijin Hyosho).
In 2014 the Nippon Visions Award became the Nippon Visions Jury Award. Also, an audience award, the Nippon Visions Audience Award, was created. That year the festival drew more than 16,000 visitors.
The 15th edition of the festival in 2015 saw the introduction of the Nippon Honor Award for personalities who have made an outstanding contribution to Japanese cinema in their careers.
In 2018 the new section Nippon Docs was introduced.
In 2020, due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID 19 pandemics, the festival took place exclusively online for the first time from 9 to 14 June 2020 using a video-on-demand platform provided by Shift72. Tokachi Tsuchiya received the Nippon Online Award for the documentary film An Ant Strikes Back for the first time. Also in 2020 the festival team received the JaDe award in Cologne.
In 2023, the new Nippon Rising Star Award was introduced. Its first awardee was the singer and actress Toko Miura.
Directors and actors who have attended the festival: Koji Yakusho, Shinobu Terajima, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Shinya Tsukamoto, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Toshiaki Toyoda, Yuki Tanada, Koji Wakamatsu, Isao Yukisada, Ryuichi Hiroki, Sakura Ando, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Miwa Nishikawa, Shuichi Okita, Koji Yamamura, Shinsuke Sato, Koji Fukada, Kaori Momoi, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, Akiko Oku and more.