Greetings

Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival is a film festival centered around the topic of history and jidaigeki (Japanese period films).
Kyoto is a city with more than 1200 years of history, from which diverse cultures were birthed. Such cultural assets became the nourishment that nurtured jidaigeki and history films. At a time when Japanese jidaigeki is garnering international attention, our film festival’s slogan – History × Global × Cross-media” – proves to be even more significant. This year’s theme is “The Fights of the Have-Nots”. Starting with the first two episodes of SHŌGUN, a record-breaking winner of 18 Emmys, we have planned screenings of a variety of films and talk sessions inviting the staff/cast members as well as film scholars. We have ensured that our program will allow participants to appreciate the joy of jidaigeki and history films to the fullest. Other projects will also take place during the festival. Kyoto Filmmakers Lab is a space for nurturing young filmmakers from across the globe. HISTORICA X is a conference discussing cutting-edge visual technology. We also have HISTORICA Ozashiki, a networking roundtable for creators. Along with the already completed Kyoto Film Pitching and Uzumasa Jōraku Matsuri, these are all aimed at expanding the horizon of jidaigeki through diverse related projects. With the motto of “Reaching for the future through history films”, we will continue to strive for a festival that can deliver more filmmakers and new contents to the audience.

Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival Committee
Chairman Yuji Kojima (CEO of Shochiku Studio Co., Ltd.)

The Fights of the Have-Nots
Money, talent, achievements, wisdom, health… This world is constructed on a binary: the haves and have-nots. In the world of jidaigeki (history films), 2024 will be remembered as a year where the have-nots dominated. On the one hand, we have the unprecedented global-scale jidaigeki – SHŌGUN. On the other hand, there is the super-small-scale jidaigeki without a big budget nor a promise of a market performance – A Samurai in Time.
Come to think of it, cinema has always depicted the have-nots. So did Akira Kurosawa, Junji Sakamoto, Kazuya Shiraishi. All the way from colonial Indonesia to Italian convents. The have-nots fight in various ways too. Some overwhelm the haves with prowess, some laugh them off, and some even nullify the binary itself.
SHŌGUN, as a massive success case, has proved the potential of jidaigeki to the world. However, the road to the global market remains the same for those who come and those who went. This could be both a blessing and a curse. Those who dare to tread this path from hereon will decide what it means for themselves.

Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival Committee
Ken Takahashi
Program Director
(Toei Company, Ltd. Kyoto Studio)

Event overview

Name: The 16th Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival(KHIFF)
Dates: December 3rd(TUE) – 8th(SUN), 2024
Venues: The Museum of Kyoto

Venues: The Museum of Kyoto
(https://historica-kyoto.com/2024/)
(Kyoto Prefectural Government, The Museum of Kyoto, Toei Company, Ltd. Kyoto Movie Studios, Shochiku Studio Co., Ltd., Toei Kyoto Studio Co., Ltd., Iwamoto Metal Co., Ltd., Directors Univ,inc., Ritsumeikan University, Skeleton Crew Studio, General Incorporated Association Kyoto Historica)
Co-hosted by: KYOTO CMEX Executive Committee
With the Association of: Kyoto Crossmedia Promotion Agency / Italian Cultural Institute in Osaka /
La Biennale di Venezia-Biennale College Cinema / Cineteca di Bologna / Polish Cultural Institute in Tokyo

Presented Under the auspices of: Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Inc. / Foreign Film Importer-Distributors Association of Japan / Motion Picture and Television Engineering Society of Japan Inc. / Fm-Kyoto Inc.
Supported by: Japan Arts Council