The Tochigi Kura no Machikado Film Festival is a film festival held in Tochigi-shi, Tochigi Prefecture. During the festival period, historical buildings, mainly a number of storehouses remaining in the city, are opened to the public as mini-theaters. In addition to hosting the Tochigi Kura no Machikado Awards, in which films are solicited from the general public, this is a community-based event that aims to let more people enjoy the historical scenery of the city, and 2022 marked the 13th festival, which was held for the first time in three years after the COVID-19 pandemic. At this film festival, FP-Z8000 was used for indoor screenings at a mini-theater inside an earthen storehouse called "Kitagura" and for the wall projection at the main venue, "Tochigi Dashi Kaikan". With the Z series, we were able to create a new type of film festival that has never been seen before. We spoke with Mr. Tomonobu Oaku, Secretary General of the festival, about the effects of introducing the Z series.
Mr. Oaku, Secretary General, The Tochigi Kura no Machikado Film Festival. He told us that the Z Series solved various problems at the film festival.
The Tochigi Dashi Kaikan, the main venue. More than 100 seats were accommodated for the outdoor wall projection.
This time, we adopted FUJIFILM's Z8000 projectors in two venues, an indoor screening venue with a capacity of about 20 people and an outdoor venue with a large wall screen, although they were of different sizes. Until the time before last, (at an outdoor venue) we had a "scaffold" set up from a distance to project the image, and we received complaints or comments from visitors, such as that tall people's heads sometimes appeared slightly on the screen (when they passed in front of the scaffold). But this time, we used an ultra-short throw projector, so there was no such stress at all, which is wonderful. For example, (at an indoor venue) we needed to prepare the venue by leaving a straight path clear in front of the projector, but this time, we were able to set up the seats in the middle of the best viewing area just like a regular movie theater, which I think is revolutionarily less stressful.
A view of the screening in a storehouse. The projector can be placed in front of the front seats, so no shadows of people are created at all.
The ultra-short throw and wide-range lens shift capabilities are utilized in the venue design.
The Tochigi Dashi Kaikan has a large wall, but it lies on the left hand side when viewed from the front, and with plantings and trees in the area, it's a challenging location where anyone would struggle to figure out how to project images. In such a case, I think the only solution is to use a short-throw projector and place it in front of the wall. Furthermore, thanks to the projector, we were able to accommodate more than 100 seats, which helped contribute to creating a wonderful venue. This time, we were able to use two stacked Z8000 projectors, which made it much brighter, and we were able to achieve a brightness that was completely different from the last time. The image was very clear, so we were very satisfied!
Two FP-Z8000 projectors were stacked for the screening.
Through the films, we hope to create an environment where the citizens can express and enjoy culture more, and we also want to make the film festival even more exciting by bringing out its unique strengths that are different from the major film festivals.
The mayor also participated in the Tochigi Kura no Machikado Awards. Award-winning films were screened using FP-Z8000.
![[photo] Fujifilm Z Projector FP-Z8000](https://asset.fujifilm.com/www/me/files/styles/600x400/public/2021-03/de7aa0577405cef1f2af8a582cb93720/thumb_fpz8000_01.png?itok=kS8fhZjN)