Holding its first festival in 1993, the festival is organized biennially - every odd year in Toyama prefecture, Japan.
With the cooperation of Wildscreen in Bristol, U.K. and Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in Wyoming, U.S.A., it has become the largest event of its kind in Asia and Pacific Rims.

The festival receives over 400 film entries from over 40 countries and is attended by some 40 thousand members of the public who come from all over Japan.

The Japan Wildlife Film Festival is a four-day event, where nominated films are screened at several theaters and open to the public free of charge.

The Festival gives the Japanese public an excellent opportunity to view high quality natural history films. In addition to the screenings, we invite several of the nominees and other filmmakers to give special seminars on the making of their films.

The next festival will be held in Tokyo and Kyoto.

All nominees will have their film subtitled (broadcast standard) for the festival free of charge, which will be free to use in anyway you wish after the festival.

Winners will receive a trophy and a Japanese style plaque.

All festival attendants will be able to receive the full support from our staff for business arrangements and promotion of your own film and production through various connections in Japan.

Non-fiction is a must.
i) Entry is free.
ii) Entries must have been completed in or after March, 2017 and the central focus must be on aspects of nature and wildlife, environmental and conservation issues, or nature and people. Productions already submitted to the last Japan Wildlife Film Festival are not eligible.
a. All screener DVD/Blu-Ray sent by post must be NTSC (region 0 or 2). Only in exceptional circumstances, we will accept DVD/Blu-Ray PAL.
or

Online screeners and ftp download or any other downloadable medians.
If that is not possible, we also accept USB thumb drives and HDD

b.
Please include with the completed Entry Form:

a) Script (English or Japanese). The official languages of the Festival are Japanese and English. Productions in other languages must be accompanied by an English or Japanese script with time code.
b) Three different still photographs with digital from each production.
c) If completing your submission form online, do not deliver your submission materials until you have completed your online entry and be sure that your online entry number is printed clearly on all materials.

iii) Entry packages should be sent to:
Nature Film Network - JWFF Office
205 Ranjo
Tonami-shi
Toyama-ken
939-1431
Japan
Tel:+81(0)75-286-7453

iv) Entrants must confirm by Fax or E-mail when packages were sent, giving the following information: entrant's name, company, full contact information, shipping date and shipping method.
Festival Office
Fax: +81(0)3-6419-7504
E-mail: jwff@naturechannel.jp
v)
Shipping costs, customs and insurance fees are to be paid by entrants. The Festival organizer is not responsible for damage or loss of entries during the shipment.

vi)Publicity and Promotion
a.
Entrants automatically grant approval for up to three minutes of each production submitted to be made available, free of charge for a promotional tape of the Festival, its web site, for broadcast media, and for use in any reasonable way connected with the promotion of the Festival both at the time of the event and the months following.

b.
Entrants automatically grant approval for Nature Film Network to use information on the entry form and accompanying photos in Festival publications and on its web site. They may be used for news information material for TV, print media and web based materials.

vii) Entrants automatically grant approval for their productions to be available for viewing by JWFF delegates in the on demand library during the festival.

viii) Entrants automatically grant approval for their productions to be retained by the Festival organizer and will be shown at non-profit public screenings to promote JWFF and charitable event to promote the conservation of nature through wildlife films during and outside of the Festival. An admission fee may be levied to cover venue and administration costs. The Festival organizers reserve the right to add a voice-over or Japanese subtitle to the films selected for those screenings. The costs will be covered by the Festival. JWFF expects all applicants to secure music and talent rights to their films for festival exhibition. It is the sole responsibility of the entity submitting the project to secure permission from the copyright holder of the material in question. JWFF will not be held responsible for any inclusion of uncleared copyrighted materials in your film.
ix) Entries will not be returned. They will be retained in the film library by the Festival. If you would like to have your entry returned, it should be indicated on your entry form and the return postage enclosed.

6. JUDGING
i) Entries will be screened and judged by the Judging Committee. Entries selected by the committee will be nominated as finalists for awards.
ii) Finalists will be notified by the Festival office as soon as possible after the selection. During the Festival, films will be judged in relation to each award by the International Judging Committee. Award winners will be announced at the Gala Ceremony which closes the Festival.
iii) Due to the number of submissions received, JWFF cannot provide individual feedback or reasons of the selection results.

7. SELECTED NOMINEES
Nominated films will be made available for public screenings during the Festival.
i) Nominees will be notified and asked to submit the highest quality format available with HDCam, or Digital file of the master to produce Japanese subtitled version.
ii) One person for each finalist film will be invited to the Festival with his/her accommodation and travel in Japan covered by the Festival organizer. Please note that expenses outside and to/from Japan will be paid by the finalist.
iii) After the Festival, all works of the finalist films will be retained by the Festival organizer, and will be shown at non profit screenings in line with the purposes of the Festival. In some cases, a small admission charge may be made to cover administration costs.
iv) No film may be withdrawn from the festival after its selection..