FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 22, 2000

Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC) announced today that 31 video creations have been nominated for awards by the judging committee of the 23rd Tokyo Video Festival.

The festival, one of the major international video competitions, attracted a record of 2,202 entries from 39 countries and regions, including 1,095 Japanese and 1,107 overseas entries this year. The Tokyo Video Festival was initiated in 1978 to encourage communication through video-making by amateur and professional individuals and groups.

Winners of this year's festival will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Park Tower Hall, Shinjuku, Tokyo, starting at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, 2001.

There are several clear trends this year. The number of amateur home video works submitted from overseas is growing sharply, while the average age of entrants is declining. Entrants under 20 years of age now account for about 40% of the total. Entries cover a broad range of themes, from probing inquiries of social problems and human dilemmas to documentaries and more entertainment-oriented works. The spread of digital video equipment and easier-to-use editing tools has increased the number of entries making use of sophisticated structures and image processing. Together, the entries are illustration of the broad potentials of video as a communications medium.

This year being the final year of the 20th century, many of the entries intended to give messages to the 21st.

The judges of the 23rd Tokyo Video Festival are Nobuhiko Obayashi, Film Director; Hakudo Kobayashi, Video Artist and Professor of Seian University of Art and Design; Susumu Hani, Film Director; Makoto Shiina, Novelist; and Shingo Kawata, Associate Director of Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC).

In addition, Naoto Takenaka, Actor and Film Director; Mari Christine, Cross-Cultural Communicator; Shigeru Kawata, Video Artist; and Hiroaki Sato, Video Artist and Faculty of Nippon Engineering College are serving as guest judges.

Note: Motion pictures of live broadcasts can be viewed with "Real Player (R)" of RealNetworks.

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