I’ve been involved with the Nara International Film Festival since the fall of 2008.  As the longest standing member of the administrative team, last fall I was nominated to serve on the Board of Directors.  

 

Looking back, I’ve been blessed with many different opportunities.  As an enterprise, and as its operating organization, we are still very inexperienced.    However, because of that, all the young staff members, myself included, are given opportunities we wouldn’t be given elsewhere.  We can take on challenges of our own initiative, meet people from various industries and interact with them.  Such experiences and encounters are my treasure, and I am grateful to those who came before me for giving me those opportunities.  Furthermore, in order to pass on such experiences to those coming after me, I want to involve younger generations in forming the driving force of the NIFF enterprise. 

 

This project, which has been built up bit by bit through collaborative efforts of people across various generations, is a living organism, constantly in development.  Keeping this living thing “alive” is not all fun and games, and on a day-to-day basis, there are certainly more difficulties than not.  However, even in the midst of the problems that pile up, there is a unique joy in debating various issues, thinking seriously about things that now looking back seem unimportant, and learning through trial and error with my fellow team members.  Through the daily process of collaboration, negotiation and creation with those around me, I want to grow alongside the festival and keep on learning more and more. 

 

My wish is that the film festival serve as a launching pad for other exciting work.  Not just during the week of thefestival, but throughout the entire year, as various types of small guerilla-type activities, such as film screenings, theater performances and concerts, emerge, it will eventually lead to the formation of one large movement, which will in turn lead to the formation of a community surrounding and supporting it.  That end result would be appealing and beneficial not only for the people living on this land, but also for visitors from elsewhere. 

 

As people of diverse backgrounds come together, they can share and exchange various perspectives and values with each other.  Where that happens, a rich culture will emerge.

 

In order to put together an interesting film festival, the people creating it must be interesting themselves.  I want to challenge myself to that task, and I want more people of the younger generation to join in with me on this challenge.

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Members

Executive Director

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Deputy Executive Director

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Executive Secretary

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secretariats

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