Japanese

YIDFF Classics on Digital
Yamagata Documentary Film Library Collection
Digitization Project

Supported by: Nagase Film Foundation

Digitization of Works Screened at the First Festival

Since its first installment in 1989, YIDFF has produced screening materials with Japanese subtitles. With the permission of the filmmakers, these films, which are stored at the Yamagata Documentary Film Library in the suburbs of Yamagata City, are available for loan throughout the year to independent screening groups and other individuals and institutions all over Japan. Of the more than two hundred and fifty films in the library’s collection, most of the titles screened from 1989 into the 1990s are 16mm or 35mm prints, and after more than 30 years they have gradually been showing signs of chemical deterioration and physical damage. In the current age of digital screening, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to show these valuable films. With a grant from the Nagase Film Foundation, we have decided to begin digitizing film works from the festival’s early days. This year, three films were digitized and two of the digital versions, Route 1/USA and Time Has No Name, which were both first screened in 1989, will be unveiled at YIDFF 2025.

Kae Ishihara, Hata Ayumi
Program Coordinators


Note on “digitization”
The term “digitization” here refers to the process of scanning films that have been used for screenings for many years in their current state and creating suitable materials for digital screening (DCP). Due to budgetary limitations, no active digital restoration work has been added, although noticeable scratches were eliminated and color correction was performed. In addition, from the first year of YIDFF through 1997, films in the International Competition were subtitled in Japanese only and not in English, so digital versions made from films in our collection from that period remain without English subtitles. However, if the filmmaker or current rights holder has already created and owns a DCP, we have decided for budgetary reasons to newly aquire those digital materials and create a DCP with subtitles in accordance with YIDFF’s current screening policy. Of the two films to be screened at YIDFF 2025, Route 1/USA is an example of the latter case.