YIDFF: 2025: Events

Events

Opening Ceremony: [Date] October 9 (Thu) 17:00
[Venue] Yamagata Central Public Hall 6F
[Admission] Admission Free
Awards Ceremony: [Date] October 15 (Wed) 16:00
[Venue] Yamagata Central Public Hall 6F
[Admission] Admission Free
Closing Film: The Voices of the Silenced Dirs: Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui / 2025 / 148 min
Award Film Screenings: [Date] October 16 (Thu)
The screening program will be announced after the Awards Ceremony.

Collaborated Events

Variety Nights @YIDFF 2025

Announcing a wide variety of events hosted in official collaboration with other organizations, to liven up the festival nights!

[Date] October 10 (Fri) –13 (Mon)
[Venues] Yamagata Creative City Center Q1 (2F) 2-C, BOTA theater (BOTA coffee 2F), Playground Cafe BOX

• October 10 (Fri)

19:00–21:00: Young Projectionist Talk Night * Event in Japanese only

As opportunities to screen films dwindle, a young film projectionist seeks to further their knowledge and broaden their community, visiting institutions for film preservation and screening facilities in the North American city of Chicago; some film prints shown at YIDFF are on loan from these archives. An archivist from Kobe Planet Film Archive, who also joined this excursion, will take the role of moderator as they introduce how things are run at the sites they visited. Both will share their thoughts on screening films from their perspective as film projectionists, which includes efforts towards film preservation, projection, and passing on the related skills and technical knowledge. (Speaker: Yukako Muraoka, Moderator: Hitomi Matsuyama).
[Venue] Q1 2-C
[Admission] Free
[Organizer] YIDFF 2025 Projection Team

• October 11 (Sat)

19:00–21:30: DDDD Film School First showcase!! Supported by FLEX International * Event in Japanese only

The DDDD Film School (https://ddddfilmschool.com/), which opened as an educational institution for documentary film in 2025, presents their first showcase. Students created 3.5-minute Micro Docs, a result of their honing their craft from professionals active in the field through small class sizes and in a hands-on environment. The filmmakers in attendance will share some stories from behind-the-scenes and discussions, as well as introduce the school’s philosophy and its diverse curriculum. Get front row seats to experience the creativity and enthusiasm of these future filmmakers. * A small reception party is planned after the screenings and talks
[Venue] Q1 2-C
[Admission] Free
[Organizer] DDDD Film School (General Incorporated Association DDDD Institute)
19:00–21:00: Good-bye Yano-san

On Aug. 11, 2024, Yano Kazuyuki passed away. Director of YIDFF Tokyo Office since the beginning of the festival’s history, he was a key figure who contributed to making YIDFF what it is today. As head of the film distribution company Cinematrix Co. Ltd., he introduced many fine films to Japanese audiences and was beloved by friends around the world. We’ll raise our glasses in his honor, reveal rare footage of him from over the years, watch-party style, and share stories of remembrance (in a no-smoking venue, sorry Yano-san!).
[Venue] BOTA theater
[Admission] 1,000 yen (with one drink & booklet / YIDFF festival tickets and pass cannot be used for admission)
[Organized by] his friends
18:00–21:00: Student Mixer Night! Supported by Blackmagic Design * Event in Japanese only

We will be holding a networking party where students who love film can socialize. The first half will consist of screenings of short films directed by university students followed by discussion and comments, and the latter half will be a standing party with refreshments. University students are invited to come and enjoy chatting with fellow students who also love movies!
[Venue] Playground Cafe BOX
[Admission] Free
[Organizers] YIDFF, Blackmagic Design

• October 12 (Sun)

18:30–20:30: Film Festival and “Artification”: Festivity, Performativity and Creativity * Event in Japanese only

This talk event probes the relation between film festivals and “artification” and focuses on the issue of whether it is possible to perceive the social practice of film festivals as art with YIDFF as a central case study from the viewpoint of festivity, performativity, and creativity, through expanding discussions of the concept of “art” itself that has evolved in recent years. In line with its last iteration, this session aims to be a space for free discussion, welcoming not only members of the research group but any participant to join.
[Venue] Q1 2-C
[Admission] Free
[Organizer] Artification Research Group
20:00–22:30: Studying Documentary Records * Event in Japanese only

While videos—and certainly streaming—didn’t exist in the Showa era, incidents and the voices and speeches of famous people were frequently pressed and sold as vinyl records. While most of these are out-of-print and not in circulation at the moment, they are nonetheless still invaluable recordings. Before movies, Edison invented the phonograph for the purpose of recording. We can think of these “non-music records” as another piece of documentary history! Listen closely to vinyl records selected from the personal collection of host and aficionado Kosuke Wakaki and experience a journey in history through sound.
[Venue] BOTA theater
[Admission] 1,000 yen (YIDFF festival tickets and pass cannot be used for admission)
[Organizer] Nondelaico
19:00–21:00: Hamacul Film Night—case. Rokkoku Kitchen * Event in Japanese only

The film Rokkoku Kitchen uses food and eating to show the lifestyle and way of life for people living alongside National Route 6 (aka “Rokkoku”), where transportation in some sections was limited after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant. To correspond with the screening in this year’s Cinema with Us 2025 program, the production team and local film commission have been invited for this talk event, where they will talk about their experiences on location and during filming.
[Venue] Playground Cafe BOX
[Admission] Free
[Organizer] Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

• October 13 (Mon)

19:00–21:00: Revisiting Segawa Junichi * Event in Japanese only

It has been 30 years since the passing of cinematographer Segawa Junichi. Known as the first to capture the world-renowned actor Mifune Toshiro on film, Segawa above all left a lasting mark on postwar Japanese documentary through his masterful camerawork. Harboring the ethical question he encountered during the filming of Fighting Soldiers (dir. Kamei Fumio, 1939), he went on to collaborate for decades with leading directors including Teshigahara Hiroshi, Hani Susumu, Tsuchimoto Noriaki, Yanagisawa Hisao, Matsukawa Yasuo, Haneda Sumiko, Ise Shinichi, and others. Anticipating retrospectives in Tokyo and Osaka this winter, the Yamagata event revisits his legacy with a lecture, a conversation, and the premiere of a short film on Segawa by Tsutsui Takefumi.
[Venue] Q1 2-C
[Admission] 1,000 yen (YIDFF festival tickets and pass cannot be used for admission)
[Organizer] Revisiting Segawa Junichi Project
16:00–19:00: Noto and Nepal: We'll Never Give Up * Event in Japanese only

Join Tsun-san—the iconic Japanese football supporter known for his topknot and samurai armor, and author of The Volunteer Handbook—for a three-hour session exploring different forms of support and aid. The event features a report on the year and ten months of relief work in the Noto Peninsula and a project that brought children from the region to the Paris Olympics. Tsun-san will also reflect on ten years of support following the 2015 Nepal earthquake, sharing insights into how these experiences reshaped his understanding of what happiness really means. In the second half, participants will gather in a circle to exchange thoughts, experiences, and ideas about volunteering.
[Venue] BOTA theater
[Admission] Free
[Organizer] smile for Nippon
19:00–22:00: Sanrizuka: Disappearing Landscapes—The Heta Project Screening * Event in Japanese only

The area where Ogawa Productions’ documentary film Narita: Heta Village takes place will be submerged under a new resevoir tied to the expansion of Narita airport. Heta remains uninhabited after all its residents relocated about 20 years ago. Together with a number of young creatives, we documented the old site of Heta and created a handful of short films utilizing the unedited footage left by Ogawa Productions. At this event, we will report on the current status at the site, segue into screenings of the short films/Q&A and have practical discussions with participants about how we can document the area and what can be expressed amidst the actual construction at the site.
[Venue] Playground Cafe BOX
[Admission] Free
[Organizer] Heta Project (Hokuso Material and Cultural Assets Preservation Network: Film Team)