Welcome to the first annual Ishinomaki International Film Festival.  We have created this festival to bring together musicians and filmmakers from Ishinomaki, the rest of Japan and the world, to help us build a community of art and communication, and to inspire young people to create their own films and music and find expression for their voices.

Ishinomaki has a history of movie theaters and music. With more than ten movie theaters in this small town, people would come from far and wide to enjoy films. It also used to be the town with the most live music venues in the Tohoku area. We want to bring back some of the excitement of times gone by and invite people to come to Ishinomaki to experience the post-tsunami renaissance that is happening right now in Ishinomaki. This festival will also feature films made by participants in the Ishinomaki Documentary Filmmaking Course during the month of July.

Non-Japanese films nominated for this festival will be subtitled in Japanese by the Ishinomaki Film translating team and filmmakers will be provided with the subtitle data. Japanese films nominated for this festival will be subtitled in English by the Ishinomaki Film translating team and filmmakers will be provided with the subtitle data. 

This is an excellent opportunity to introduce your work to Japan. Nominated films will be screened in Ishinomaki and residents will vote for the Ishinomaki Award.