The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (ゆうばり国際ファンタスティック映画祭, Yūbari kokusai fantasutikku eiga sai), also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō.
The first year in 1990 had as a special guest, actor Jon Voight and his daughter, a young starlet named Angelina Jolie.
In 1993, Quentin Tarantino was at the festival and wrote part of the screenplay for Pulp Fiction in his hotel room.
Some years later, he paid homage to the town in the name of a character in Kill Bill: Volume 1, "Gogo Yubari".
However, the people of Yubari with the assistance of a number of sponsors were able to group together to revive the festival in 2008.
The international competition section of the festival had to be dropped but the Off Theatre program for young Japanese directors was retained with the Grand Prize bringing 2 million yen (about $20,000) to the winner.
In addition to the competition section, the festival continued to screen a number of international films by promising directors.
[5] The 32nd edition of the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival will be held from July 28 to August 1 2022.
In 2024, Yubari Fanta, the NPO that had been in charge of the operation, announced that it would suspend its activities due to the issue of unpaid prize money from before 2023 coming to light[9][10], and the ``Yubari Volunteer Association said that Kei Nakata would be the representative.
Yubari City Hall has decided not to accept requests for sponsorship (nominal sponsorship) for the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, and has notified the organizers of the event, failing to provide an overall picture of the project and unclear who is the representative of the organization, including past achievements and responsibilities.
Film producer Maki Tsuchida, who was one of the final judges, passed away suddenly at the Kuriyama Onsen Hotel Paradise Hills in the early hours of December 25th, and the fact is being kept secret[12].