Greetings friends, as the year 2015 came to a close, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you. We appreciate your warmest regards and are very encouraged to receive your support. 
Some of the highlights of the year 2015 are: the visit of Kyoko Heya, director of the Hiroshima International Film Festival to the Cannes Film Festival ; the new collaboration with the Embassy of France in Japan, the Embassy of Portugal in Japan, Instituto Cervantes de Tokyo; organization of special events in collaboration with various educational institutions such as Tokyo University of the Arts, Doshisha University and Kyoto University of Art and Design; the launch of the 5-year collaborative project with the Cinematheque Française and the Hiroshima City Cinematographic and Audio-Visual Library. 

The opening ceremony and the opening Cine-concert took place on November 20th 2015 in the presence of Mr Governor of Hiroshima Hidehiko Yuzaki, Mr. Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima and president of Mayors for Peace, and Mrs. Francine Méoule of the Embassy of France in Japan. During three days of the festival, the HIFF welcomed 10,547 visitors, more than 80 new and classic films of all genres with 16 Premiere screenings, and more than 40 international guests from all over the world.

We have received the generous support from various public and private institutions such as Japan Arts Council, NPO Music Bring Peace, Amuse, Gojinsha Group, All Nippon Airways, Hiroshima Electric Railway, Kawakita Memorial Foundation for Film Culture et al., and other Japanese film festivals such as Tokyo International Film Festival, Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Tama Cinema Forum. 

Since the foundation of the Hiroshima International Film Festival in November 2014, the scope of the activities of our Festival has been amplified and extended. We are eager to continue to identify the major challenges of the contemporary cinema and propose new and contextualized programs in echo with their histories. 

We wish you peace, joy and happiness in the New Year. 

Hiroshima, January 1st, 2016 

Hiroshima International Film Festival Organizing Committee