TERUOKA Sozo Translator: WEN Hao
Abstract
This article is a historical account of the programming of Chinese films at the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) by programming director Teruoka Sōzō. Even though OAFF was a latecomer to the Japan festival scene, with limited scale and scope at the start, it has now become one of the top festivals of Asian cinema. In Teruoka’s experience, OAFF receives government funding within and outside of Japan while remaining autonomous in its film selection, and they believe in maintaining such autonomy, they should not subject their programming and selected works to any type of censorship or bureaucratic interventions, and thus so far the festival has yet to collaborate with Chinese governmental agencies. When it comes to its Chinese film selections, with both low-budget independent films and more commercial titles in past programmes, OAFF in recent years has set its sights on mid-budget productions between the two poles.