The Niseko Shootout Short Film Festival Returns in 2023!
The Niseko Shootout Short Film Festival is the biggest event of the winter season and will showcase the best short films created by incredibly talented filmmakers, shot and filmed right here in Niseko!
Films have a maximum length of 5 minutes and can feature winter or summer! Summer films also are welcomed – surfing, mountain bike, hiking, trekking, SUPing; show us as all.
Filmmaker registration is completely free.
For inspiration check out last year’s entries HERE.
The Niseko Shootout Film Festival is the grand finale to this year’s Niseko Shootout series.
Finalists’ films will be shown on a big screen on Friday, March 17th, 2023.
Winners will be judged and awarded on the night, along with the winners of the #NisekoShootout Instagram Contest. There is a huge cash prize pool of JPY350,000 for the top three winners of this years Short Film Festival.
Registration is free and simple Just submit the registration form HERE; open from now until March 6th, 2023.
Check out the recap video from last year!!
To join us at the event, there are FREE HANAZONO SHUTTLE BUSES available from Hirafu until 7pm (every 30min interval). Check out the stops and locations HERE. There will also be free shuttle to Kutchan and Hirafu after the event. *Drink driving is prohibited in Japan.
Event Details:
- Date: Friday, March 17th, 2023
- Venue: Hanazono EDGE
- NO ENTRY FEE, NO RSVP NEEDED
- Doors open at 5pm
- Films start from 6pm
- Event ends at 9pm
Good time, guaranteed. See you on Friday, March 17th at Hanazono EDGE.
Prizes
- First Prize: ¥180,000 cash prize
- Second Prize: ¥100,000 cash prize
- Third Prize: ¥70,000 cash prize
The Niseko Shootoout is partnering with the European – based Mountain Film Awards. Winning films will be featured on their website alongside other great films from Morzine, Tigner and Verbier.
FAQ's
- First Prize: ¥180,000 cash prize
- Second Prize: ¥100,000 cash prize
- Third Prize: ¥70,000 cash prize
Entrants will be judged by the below 5 criteria:
- Niseko soul
- Story telling
- Innovation
- Cinematography
- Production & Editing
*The Niseko Shootout jury will select the winning films and no discussion into the final decision will be entered into.
It is free to enter a film into the Niseko Short Film Festival.
Entrants must fill out the Niseko Shootout Short Film Fest Entry Form.
Films must be submitted by February 28, 2023.
Entries can be of any duration with a maximum run time of 5 minutes.
Films can showcase year-round scenery, not just winter.
Films can be in any language, however, they must be accompanied by an English translation or have English and Japanese subtitles.
If the films contain words, captions are strongly recommended considering the native languages of the judges’ panel (English & Japanese).
Films must contain footage filmed in and/or around the Shiribeshi region.
Films must not depict scenes of action deemed illegal by Japanese law. This includes, but is not limited to trespassing and the damage of public/private property, i.e. Avalanche barriers, rails, public/private structure, etc.
Entrants are responsible for ensuring films have all music (festival rights) and talent permissions required for public display. Please submit relevant documentation with your film entry.
Films entered will remain the property of the filmmakers. By entering the Niseko Short Film Festival your film will be published online on the Niseko Tourism website, YouTube, and other SNS.
By entering filmmakers give permission to the organizers of the Niseko Shootout Short Film Festival to screen this film in public as well as use short clips and stills of this film for promotion and publicity purposes.
The copyright and ownership of the film will remain with the filmmakers and entrants.
Entrants are required to supply promotional materials: 3x still images and a 10-15 second teaser clip for the purpose of promoting the film and film fest.
*The entrant acknowledges and agrees that all matters not covered by these guidelines, and questions arising from them, will be decided at the sole discretion of Niseko Shootout organizers.
There are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners only. Each winner can come from any category. For Example, All winners can come from 1 category.
Technical Requirements:
Entrants are required to provide an HD high-resolution version of the film.
Means of submission will be discussed via email upon the entrant’s registration.
2022/23 Niseko Shootout is now Open!
The Niseko Shootout photography contest is back for the 2022/2023 winter season with incredible prizes!
To enter simply upload your best Niseko images to Instagram with the hashtag #nisekoshootout, taken in the Niseko area and between Dec 15, 2022 – March 1st, 2023, and you’ll be in the running for the Niseko Shootout Crown.
Photos are judged across three categories:
- Ski
- Snowboard
- Open
Make sure to follow Niseko Shootout on Instagram to see the best entries so far!
Check out the incredible prizes for this year:
| Category | First Place | Second Place | Third Place |
| Ski | Niseko United Season Pass | Iwanai Cat Tour | Yama Plus Prize Pack |
| Snowboard | Gentem Snowboard | Rhythm Japan + Oyuki prize pack | K2 Prize Pack |
| Open | 2-Bedroom NISADE Property Stay | Alpenglow Lodges Stay | NAC Adventure Park |
*Please make sure you don’t tag @nisekoshootout – rather be sure to use the hashtag #nisekoshootout so the judges can see your picture.
- All images using #nisekoshootout taken and posted between Dec 15, 2022 – March 1st, 2023 in the Shiribeshi & Iburi region are eligible.
- Three winners will be selected from all entries by a panel of judges.
- Judges will be asked to assess images based on the following criteria: Visual Impact, Creativity, Composition, Point of Interest, Lighting, & Originality.
- The winner is the photographer. The poster and/or subject may be credited if different from the photographer, but the winner is the photographer.
Thanks to our Event Sponsors
Thanks to all of our event sponsors for making this contest possible!
- Niseko United
- Gentemstick
- NISADE
- Iwanai Resort
- Rhythm Japan
- Alpenglow Lodges
- K2 Japan
- Yama Plus
- NAC Adventure Park
Other Competitions
If you are in town in January, don’t forget to sign up for Niseko Shootout ProAM. Check out the excitement from 2022 press release.
Make sure to start editing and prepare to enter your film for Niseko Shootout Short Film Festival in March, 2023. Find out more HERE from the 2022 drive-in cinema press release.
Niseko ProAM Photography Contest is Back! ¥200,000 Cash Prize Pool thanks to Don Julio 1942®
The awards ceremony for this years Niseko Shootout ProAM photo contest went down at Rhythm Base and the winners have been announced! Huge congratulations to Aaron Jamieson and Dennis Ranalter for winning the Judges Choice prize and to Tomek Ustupski, Henry Johnson for winning the public vote prize! Thanks again to Don Julio 1942 and all our event sponsors for making this all possible! Keep on shooting because the main hashtag contest is still on, with winners announced on March 11 at this years Short Film Festival!
Thanks so much to everyone who entered this years Niseko Shootout ProAM. With a record high of team registration, we ended up with 34 amazing shots that were all in the running for an incredible cash prize.
Check out all the incredible entries below!
Once again this year’s ProAM contest is completely free to enter, giving you the chance to win part of a ¥200,000 cash prize pool!
That is right – entry is FREE yet the CASH prizes remain as incredible as ever. The Judge’s Choice Winner will take home ¥120,000 and the Public Vote Winner ¥80,000.
Here is the gig:
Two person photographer and athlete teams will compete over a 4-day window in January 2023.
Each team will submit just one shot which will be posted on Niseko Tourism Website-ProAM Voting Page.
There are two categories to win – Judges Choice and Public Vote.
Each winner shares from a cash prize pool of ¥200,000! This incredible cash prize is thanks to this years sponsor Don Julio 1942®.
Once again our panel of judges are among the most respected riders, artists and photographers in the industry. Full list to come soon.
Contest Timeline:
- Registration is open from now until January 4th, 2023@11:59pm
- Contest will run from January 6th, 2023 @12:00am – January 9th, 2023 @11:59pm
- Shots will be posted from January 14th, 2023(~10am) – January 17th, 2023 (11:59pm)
- Contest winners will be announced on January 20th, 2023 at the Award Ceremony.
Prizes:
- ProAM Judges’ Choice Winners: ¥120,000
- ProAM Public Vote Winners: ¥80,000
Make sure to claim your spot in the comp before time runs out! Registration ends January 4th, 2023@11:59pm.
A big thanks once again to this years event sponsor Don Julio 1942®!
Niseko Shootout ProAM FAQ's
From 12:00 am 2023 January 6th until 11:59 pm on January 9th, 2023.
There are two winners for the ProAm photo contest. The main winner will be selected by a panel of judges who are professional skiers, filmmakers, and photographers from around the world. Public vote winners are decided by the highest number of votes by members of the public.
The deadline is 2023 January 10th, 2023 at 11:59 am (Tuesday). Submissions won’t be accepted past the deadline under any circumstances
Images can be attached to an email and sent to [email protected]. If the file size is too big for email, other methods such as Google Drive, WeTransfer, DropBox, Zenfolio, etc. are accepted.
Image files should be a jpeg with a minimum resolution of 1920 pixels. The file can be a higher resolution, but the maximum file size should not be higher than 10MB.
Please provide a caption of up to 25 words to explain the photo. Caption text can be either English or Japanese.
Riding avalanche barriers is not allowed, and images submitted will be disqualified.
Riders and photographers are encouraged to be creative, however please ensure your photo is respecting all cultural and community values.
Entrants in the ProAm contest are made up of a team of two, rider and photographer. An entrant may enter multiple teams so long as the same two members of the team are not the same.
If there are extenuating circumstances that require a change of teams, please contact us and will do our best to keep you in the contest.
Sequences and video frame-grabs are both permitted, however, the final submission must be only a single image file.
Votes for the public vote prize can be made on this page during the voting period.
No. Entries must be a photo taken between 2023 January 6th and 2023 January 9th.
Yes, but the submitted image must be a digital file.
Yes, the judges will be announced on Niseko Shootout channels and the Niseko Tourism website.
Yes, as long as it is before the deadline.
If the same image wins the judge’s choice and the public choice, the team will win the judge’s choice prize, and the image with second-most amount of public votes will win the public vote prize.
You can enter the same photo, however, if you win in the ProAm, the same image cannot win a prize in the main hashtag contest.
Voting will be open on January 14th, 2023 (~10AM) until January 17th, 2023 at 23:59 JST SHARP!
Terms & Conditions
Entrants may be sponsored by a company. The sponsoring company will be given credit along with photographer and athlete names.
The titles “photographer” and “athlete” are interchangeable amongst the team of two.
Shots may be taken at any time of day in the given window in Shiribeshi area.
Paid votes are not allowed. Niseko Tourism reserves the right to disqualify and remove entries at their own discretion regarding the suspicion of paid votes.
Contest winner will be announced at the Award Ceremony. If winners are not present in the Niseko area for cash prize pick-up at Niseko Tourism, winnings can be awarded via bank transfer.
Submitted photos must be original, created and/or taken by the contestant. It must not contain any materials owned or controlled by a third party for which you have not obtained a license, must not infringe the copyright, trademark, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity.
Submitted photos must not depict scenes of action deemed illegal by Japanese law. This includes, but is not limited to trespassing and the damage of public/private property, i.e. Avalanche barriers, rails, public/private structure, etc.
All entrants grant the Niseko Shootout presenters & Niseko Tourism permission to reuse shots (along with a name credit) on social media, websites and blogs.