Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival
The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (ゆうばり国際ファンタスティック映画祭, Yūbari kokusai fantasutikku eiga sai), also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival.
== History ==
In 1990, the last coal mine in the Hokkaidō mining town of Yūbari having closed, the city leaders were looking for a way to revitalize the local economy. This was the beginning of the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. The festival was divided into two main programs, a prestigious international competition for young directors, and an Off Theatre program for mostly Japanese amateur, independent and first-time directors. The first year in 1990 had as a special guest, actor Jon Voight and his daughter, a young starlet named Angelina Jolie. In 1993, Quentin Tarantino was at the festival and wrote part of the screenplay for Pulp Fiction in his hotel room. Some years later, he paid homage to the town in the name of a character in Kill Bill: Volume 1, Gogo Yubari. In 1996 the festival also had special guest stars, comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short. In 2004 the festival drew a record audience of 27,000.
The festival had always been sponsored financially by the city of Yubari but the town filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and that year's festival had to be cancelled. However, the people of Yubari with the assistance of a number of sponsors were able to group together to revive the festival in 2008. The international competition section of the festival had to be dropped but the Off Theatre program for young Japanese directors was retained with the Grand Prize bringing 2 million yen (about $20,000) to the winner. The new Governor's Award was presented by the Governor of Hokkaidō. In addition to the competition section, the festival continued to screen a number of international films by promising directors. One of the sponsors for the festival is the giant Japanese satellite broadcasting company SKYPerfecTV! which has also broadcast parts of the program. The scaled down 2008 festival drew more than 8,800 fans and attendance increased to over 10,500 in 2009.
The 32nd edition of the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival will be held from July 28 to August 1 2022.
== Major awards ==
Award information from:
=== 1990 Awards ===
Held February 14–18, 1990.Grand Prize
Ofelas – Director: Nils Gaup
Special Prize
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds – Director: Alex Proyas
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Takeshita Performance Higei Mito-Komon – Director: Sinya Takesita
Special Prize
Gig – Director: Kosuke Ienaga
Toroma Prize
Meilin Adventure – Director: Satoshi Imai
=== 1991 Awards ===
Held February 15–19, 1991.Grand Prize
The Miracle in Valby (Miraklet i Valby) – Director: Åke Sandgren
Special Jury Prize
Windwalker – Director: Kieth Merrill
Critic's Award
Miller's Crossing – Director: Joel Coen
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Death Express – Director: Hiroyuki Terada
Jury Prize
Rice Game – Director: Hideaki Kobayashi
=== 1992 Awards ===
Held February 14–18, 1992.Grand Prize
The Swordsman in Double Flag Town – Director: He Ping
Special Jury Prize
A Demon in My View – Director: Petra Haffter
Critic's Award
Tetsuo II: Body Hammer – Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Diamonds Moon – Director: Akira Nobi
Jury Prize
Kappas – Director: Katsuya Ohsawa
=== 1993 Awards ===
Held February 19–23, 1993.Grand Prize
Children of Nature – Director: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
Special Jury Prize
Winds of God – Director: Yoko Narahashi
Critic's Award
Reservoir Dogs – Director: Quentin Tarantino
Citizen's Award
Ninja Scroll – Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Trash – Director: Naoki Kubo
Jury Prize
My Daddy Long Legs – Director: Shin Yasuhara
=== 1994 Awards ===
Held February 18–22, 1994.Grand Prize
Killing Zoe – Director: Roger Roberts Avary
Special Jury Prize
C'est arrive pres de chez vous – Director: Rémy Belvaux & André Bonzel
Minami Toshiko Award / Critic's Award
Carne – Director: Gaspar Noé
The Most Entertaining Award
El Mariachi – Director: Robert Rodriguez
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Family Time – Director: Ryota Kawaguchi
Jury Prize
My Favorite Skyline – Director: Shin Yasuhara
Vending Machine and a Girl – Director: Kiyohide Otani
=== 1995 Awards ===
Held February 17–21, 1995.Grand Prize
Tombés du ciel – Director: Philippe Lioret
Special Jury Prize
The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb – Director: Dave Borthwick
Minami Toshiko Award
Wizard of Darkness – Director: Shimako Sato
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
The Incredible Haniwa Man – Director: Shin Yasuhara
Jury Prize
Anatomia Extinction – Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
A Room Without Wind – Director: Ryuta Miyake
=== 1996 Awards ===
Held February 18–20, 1996.Grand Prize
Accumulator 1 – Director: Jan Svěrák
Special Jury Prize
Manneken Pis – Director: Frank Van Passel
Minami Toshiko Award
Secret Waltz – Director: Akira Nobi
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Brain Holiday – Director: Hineki Mito
Jury Prize
Blood Red Girls – Director: Daisuke Yamanouchi
Encouragement Prize
Rest Room – Director: Muneyoshi Murakami
To Be or Not to Be – Director: Tomoko Matsunashi
=== 1997 Awards ===
Held February 14–18, 1997.Grand Prize
Closing Time – Director: Masahiro Kobayashi
Special Jury Prize
Little Sister – Director: Robert Jan Westdijk
Minami Toshiko Award
Drive – Director: Steve Wang
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Party – Director: Mayumi Uchiumi
Jury Prize
L&D – Director: Hideki Kimura
=== 1998 Awards ===
Held February 13–17, 1998.Grand Prize
Bernie – Director: Albert Dupontel
Jean-Hugues Anglade Award
Detective Riko – Director: Satoshi Isaka
Adventure Film Prize
The Ground – Director: Atsushi Muroga
Minami Toshiko Award
Illtown – Director: Nick Gomez
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Midnight Three – Director: Yasushi Koshizaka
Special Jury Prize
Variation for Movements – Director: Yoshinao Sato
Encouragement Prize
Kurushime Girl – Director: Noboru Iguchi
=== 1999 Awards ===
Held February 19–23, 1999.Grand Prize
Bandits – Director: Katja von Garnier
Special Jury Prize / Minami Toshiko Award
Moonlight Whispers – Director: Akihiko Shiota
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Tel-Club – Director: Kenji Murakami
Special Jury Prize
Kiadoryoku REAL – Director: Katsushi Boda
=== 2000 Awards ===
Held February 18–22, 2000.Grand Prize
Across a Gold Prairie – Director: Isshin Inudou
Special Jury Prize
Pups – Director: Ash
Minami Toshiko Award
Jin-Roh – Director: Hiroyuki Okiura
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Hazy Life – Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Special Jury Prize
Let's Go Strawberry Girl – Director: Shinobu Kuribayashi
=== 2001 Awards ===
Held February 15–19, 2001.Grand Prize
New Year's Day – Director: Suri Krishnamma
Special Jury Prize
Animals – Director: Michael Di Jiacomo
Minami Toshiko Award
Siam Sunset – Director: John Polson
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Tokyo A Go Go – Director: Ryuichi Honda
Special Jury Prize
L'Ilya – Director: Tomoya Sato
=== 2002 Awards ===
Held February 14–18, 2002.Grand Prize
My Sassy Girl – Director: Kwak Jae-yong
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Run! Yamazaki! Run! – Director: Naoko Johnori
Special Jury Prize
Nuts – Director: Yoko Chukira / Tomokazu / Shu Kageyama
=== 2003 Awards ===
Held February 13–17, 2003.Grand Prize
Battlefield Baseball (Jigoku Koushien) – Director: Yūdai Yamaguchi
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Bijo-can – Director: Masaya Kakei
Special Jury Prize
Ski Jumping Pairs – Director: Riichiro Mashima
=== 2004 Awards ===
Held February 19–23, 2004.Grand Prize
Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise – Director: Kim Ji-hoon
Special Jury Prize
Robot Stories – Director: Greg Pak
Minami Toshiko Award
Better Than Sex – Director: Su Chao-pin & Lee Feng-bor
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
The Far East Apartment – Director: Tetsuya Mariko
Special Jury Prize
Utsu-musume SAYURI – Director: Takashi Kimura
=== 2005 Awards ===
Held February 24–28, 2005.Grand Prize
My Mother, the Mermaid – Director: Park Heung-sik
Special Jury Prize
Innocence – Director: Lucile Hadžihalilović
Minami Toshiko Award
The Neighbor No. Thirteen – Director: Yasuo Inoue
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Mariko's 30 Pirates – Director: Tetsuya Mariko
Special Jury Prize
Be the World for Her – Director: Daisuke Hosaka
=== 2006 Awards ===
Held February 23–27, 2006.Grand Prize
Blood Rain – Director: Kim Dae-seung
Special Jury Prize
Never Belongs to Me – Director: Nam Ki-woong
Minami Toshiko Award
Citizen Dog – Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Raw Summer (Nama-natsu) – Director: Keisuke Yoshida
Special Jury Prize
Hakko – Director: Madoka Kumagai
=== 2007 Awards ===
No awards - festival cancelled.
=== 2008 Awards ===
Held March 19–23, 2008.
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
A Woman Who Is Beating the Earth (大地を叩く女, Daichi o tataku onna) – Director: Tsuki Inoue
Special Jury Prize
Coming with My Brother (お姉ちゃん、弟といく, One-chan, otōto to iku) – Director: Kouta Yoshida
Governor's Award
Seikilos and I (セイキロスさんとわたしく, Seikilos-san to Watashi) – Director: Kenji Itoso & Hiroshi Kamebuchi
=== 2009 Awards ===
Held February 26-March 2, 2009.
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
8000 Miles (SR サイタマノラッパー, SR: Saitama no rappā) – Director: Yū Irie
Special Jury Prize
Big Gun (大拳銃, Dai kenjū) – Director: Ōhata Hajime
Governor's Award
Night Games (夜のゲーム, Yoru no geemu) – Director: Choi Uian (チェ・ウィアン)
=== 2010 Awards ===
Held February 25-March 1, 2010.
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Hot as Hell: The Deadbeat March (青春墓場～明日と一緒に歩くのだ～, Seishun Hakaba Ashita to Issho ni Aruku no da) – Director: Yōsuke Okuda
Special Jury Prize
Footed Tadpoles (脚の生えたおたまじゃくし, Ashi no maeta otamajakushi) – Director: Tomoya Maeno
Governor's Award
Wall (壁, Kabe) – Director: ヒョン・スルウ
Cinegar Award
Footed Tadpoles (脚の生えたおたまじゃくし, Ashi no maeta otamajakushi) – Director: Tomoya Maeno
=== 2011 Awards ===
Held February 24–28, 2011.
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Invasion of Alien Bikini (겨울냄새) – Director: Oh Young-Doo
Special Jury Prize
Pink Subaru (ピンク・スバル, Pinku Subaru) – Director: Kazuya Ogawa
Governor's Award
Violence PM (バイオレンスPM, Baiorensu PM) – Director: Takayuki Ishihara
Cinegar Award
Pink Subaru (ピンク・スバル, Pinku Subaru) – Director: Kazuya Ogawa
=== 2012 Awards ===
Held February 23–27, 2012 with a total attendance at 12,500.
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Osaka Violence (大阪外道, Ōsaka gedō) – Director: Takahiro Ishihara
Special Jury Prize
The Brat! (くそガキの告白, Kusogaki no kokuhaku) – Director: Taichi Suzuki
Governor's Award
The Beatles (ビートルズ, Bītoruzu) – Director: Yuichiro Sakashita
Cinegar Award
The Brat! (くそガキの告白, Kusogaki no kokuhaku) – Director: Taichi Suzuki
Best Actress
Nahana for Toilet and Women (どんずまり便器, Donzumari Benki)
Best Actor
Hiroki Konno for The Brat! (くそガキの告白, Kusogaki no kokuhaku)
Audience Award
Ultraman Saga (ウルトラマンサーガ, Urutoramansāga) - Director: Hideki Oka
Event Award
Namba Kinyu-den Minami no Teio Toichi no Manda Ginjiro - Director: Takaaki Haginiwa
Public Award
Puss in Boots (長ぐつをはいたネコ, Nagagutsu o Haita Neko)
Public People Award
The Brat! (くそガキの告白, Kusogaki no kokuhaku) – Director: Taichi Suzuki
=== 2013 Awards ===
Held February 21–25, 2013. Attendance was about 12,500.
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
There Is Light - Director: Yukihiro Toda
Special Jury Prize
A Case of Eggs - Director: Yuri Kanchiku
Governor's Award
Winter Alpaca - Director: Yuji Harada
Cinegar Award
There Is Light - Director: Yukihiro Toda
=== 2014 Awards ===
Announced March 2, 2014
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
The Pinkie - Director: Lisa Takeba
Special Jury Prize
Gun Woman - Director: Mitsutake Kurando
Governor's Award
School Girls' Gestation - Director: Ueda Atsushi
Cinegar Award
The Pinkie - Director: Lisa Takeba
Sky Perfect Movie Channel Award
Old Men Never Die - Director: Wang Cheol-min (South Korea)
=== 2015 Awards ===
Announced on February 24, 2015
OFF THEATRE COMPETITIONGrand Prize
Makeup Room - Director: Kei Morikawa
Special Jury Prize
The Limit of Sleeping Beauty - Director: Ninomiya Ken
Governor's Award
Haman - Director: Tetsuya Okabe
Cinegar Award
Mizo - Director: Nam Ki Woong (South Korea)
Sky Perfect Movie Channel Award
Luv ya Hun! - Director: Daigo Matsui

== Sources ==
Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. [IMdB].
Niskanen, Eija (July 13, 2009). Yubari Hangs Steadily On. Midnight Eye.
Waseda rules Yubari International Film Festival. [www.yomiuri.co.jp].