Masayuki Inoue takes top prize at Pia Film Fest with "The Temperature Of A Second"

by Chris MaGee

The Pia Fim Festival is a fest I would dearly love to attend, but have yet to have the opportunity to do so. With the maxim of discovering and nurturing young filmmakers in Japan I can't think of any film festival that would be more exciting for fans of Japanese cinema. Last year's winner, Masahide Ichii's "Naked of Defenses" was my favorite film at this year's Nippon Connection and I'm overjoyed to bring it to Toronto as part of The Shinsedai Cinema Festival this month.

Now word comes from Jason Gray via his blog that the winner of the 31st Annual Pia Film Festival has been named. 27-year-old Masayuki Inoue (above) took top prize for his feature film directorial debut "The Temperature Of A Second" in which he himself stars as a bumbling young man who must try and find the best ways to deal with the various people in his life. The best thing is that the top prize comes with cheque for ¥1 million (just over $10,000 CAD), a wonderful windfall for a young independent filmmaker.

Along with Inoue's win this year's PFF jury, made up of actor Ryuhei Matsuda, filmmakers Nobuhiro Suwa and Daihachi Yoshida, producer Atsuyuki Shimoda, and author Shion Miura, awarded the three runner up positions to Shôko Kimura's "Ordinary Love", Akihito Kajiya's "Chain" and Hajime Ôhata's "A Big Gun". Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to the official PFF wesbite for the above image.