Australia's Japanese Film Festival Director Konomi Masafumi Leaves The JFF

Konomi Masafumi, director of the Japanese Film Festival in Australia for the past 18 years, has announced that he will be leaving the Japan Foundation, Sydney (organizer of Australia's JFF) later this month.

Mr Konomi directed the very first Japanese Film Festival in 1997 with three free screenings, for which he personally cut out the tickets. Over the next 18 years, he has directed every single Japanese Film Festival and played a key role in helping it develop into one of the highlights of Australia's cultural calendar. Last year, the festival featured 59 contemporary titles and eight classics in 16 cities across two countries (Australia and New Zealand) over 93 days and ended with a total attendance of 33,000.

He once said, "Film can bring hope by illustrating a bright future by inspiring us all - bringing us all together under one roof in hope for a new beginning. With the festival, we have managed to continue doing positive things, bringing happiness in a time of struggle."

Konomi-san will soon be moving with his family to Tokyo, where he will assume the role of Senior Project Manager of the Asia Center at the Japan Foundation Head Office. He will be planning and organizing events to help promote Japanese films to Southeast Asian countries. We wish him well and hope he will continue to bring happiness to people through films, in both good and tough times.

Source of image: Ecube.