1st Okinawa International Movie Festival


The 1st Okinawa International Movie Festival was held from March 19 to March 22, 2009 and took place at the American Village at Mihama Chatan-cho in Okinawa City. The inaugural events saw 38 films being shown and was supported by the Ministries of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Foreign Affairs, along with the Cabinet Office in Okinawa.
Most of the movies for the first Okinawa International Movie Festival were shown free of charge with a few priced at ¥800/ ¥400 for adults/ children. The Chatan Town Sunset Beach also hosted performances by Okinawan artists Rimi Natsukawa and the Rinken Band.
The Competition Grand Prix was awarded to Japanese director Katsuhide Motoki for his film Battle League Horumo.

Official selection

The official selection of films shown in competition included three domestic films out of 8 in competition, all of which were given their world premiers. The five competing foreign films were given their Japan premier at the festival.

Competition

The following films were selected as In Competition:
English titleOriginal titleDirectorProduction country/countries
Battle League Horumo鴨川ホルモーKatsuhide MotokiJapan
Guardian Angel守護天使Yuichi SatoJapan
Baby, Baby, Baby!ベイビィ ベイビィ ベイビィ！Kazuyuki MorosawaJapan
Sunshine CleaningChristine JeffsUnited States
A Fiancé For YasminaUn novio para YasminaIrene CardonaSpain, Morocco
My StarsMes stars et moiLaetitia ColombaniFrance
Simply Actors戏王之王 Hing-Ka Chan & Patrick LeungHong Kong
Unstoppable Marriage못말리는 결혼Seong-wook KimSouth Korea

Out of Competition

The following films were screened out of competition:
;Special Invitation
English titleOriginal titleDirectorProduction country
Goemon *GOEMONKazuaki KiriyaJapan
Oppai Volleyball*おっぱいバレーYuichi SatoJapan
Yes Man Peyton ReedUnited States
The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones to Serenity劔岳　点の記Daisaku KimuraJapan
Burn After ReadingJoel & Ethan CoenUnited States
Crows Zero 2クローズZERO IITakashi MiikeJapan
Beverly Hills Chihuahua*Raja GosnellUnited States
GlossГлянецAndrei KonchalovskyRussia
If You Are The One非诚勿扰 Xiaogang FengChina
Painted Skin*画皮 Gordon ChanChina

;Special Screening
English titleOriginal titleDirectorProduction country
Ah Singleあゝ独身Yoshiyuki KurodaJapan
Otosan wa Ohitoyoshiお父さんはお人好しTorajiro SaitoJapan
Tokyo Kid東京キッドTorajiro SaitoJapan
No Problem無問題Alfred CheungHong Hong, Japan
The Circus Charlie ChaplinUnited States
The Gold RushCharlie ChaplinUnited States
Drunken Master醉拳Woo-Ping YuenHong Hong
French CancanFrench CancanJean RenoirFrance, Italy
Feature on Osamu Tezuka手塚治虫特集Osamu TezukaJapan
Feature on Fujio Akatsuka赤塚不二夫特集Fujio AkatsukaJapan
Feature on Mikio Igarashiいがらしみきお特集Mikio IgarashiJapan
Feature on Tatsuo Yoshida吉田竜夫（タツノコプロ）特集Tatsuo YoshidaJapan
Feature on Walt Disneyウォルト･ディズニー特集Walt DisneyUnited States
Airplane!Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry ZuckerUnited States
Tough Guys!Tough Guys!Shintaro KishimotoJapan
Mutenkadesuyo! The Movie無添加ですよ！ザ・ムービーJiro NishidaJapan

;Yoshimoto Special Presentation
English titleOriginal titleDirectorProduction country
King of the Escape板尾創路の脱獄王Itsuji ItaoJapan
DropドロップHiroshi ShinagawaJapan
Nisesatsuニセ札Yuichi KimuraJapan
Furimun in Okinawa南の島のフリムンGori Hong Hong, Japan

Jury

;Competition

Official selection

;In Competition
The Okinawa International Movie Festival "Laugh & Peace" Competition Grand Prix was won by the Japanese-language film Battle League Horumo directed by Katsuhide Motoki.