ADFEST 2025

< TO 3-DAY PROGRAM

Short Films for ADFEST 2025 by the Fabulous Five

Azlan Som/Haruna Takahara/Mayuka Kawamura/Mika Sasaki/Tomoya Matsushita/Moderator: Wuthisak Anarnkaporn

The Fabulous Five up-and-coming New Directors, who were amongst the 26 scripts submitted from 6 cities across the region, will take the stage to debut their short films to the ADFEST 2025 theme, “COLLiDE” on Friday 21 March at 11.50-13.00.

The fantastic and Fabulous Five and their short films are:

“RINTIK” by Azlan Som, Assistant Director, Logic & Magic, Kuala Lumpur

“ICE” by Haruna Takahara, Director, HAT, Tokyo

“OBSTACLE” by Mayuka Kawamura, Director, AOI Pro., Tokyo

“IM PERFECTION” by Mika Sasaki, Director, TYO Inc., Tokyo

“YOUR DADDY” by Tomoya Matsushita, Director, AOI Pro., Tokyo

Moderated by Wuthisak Anarnkaporn, Founder & Director of FACTORY 01 in Bangkok, and Jury President of the Film Craft Lotus and New Director Lotus, the Fabulous Five New Directors will not only premiere their films, but discuss the inspiration behind them.

Azlan Som

Assistant Director

Logic & Magic

Kuala Lumpur

Azlan Som is a filmmaker with a background in Film and TV from ASWARA. Having worked in the industry for quite sometimes, he recently stepped into directing, bringing his passion for conceptually style of storytelling.

His work explores psychological depth, societal themes, and human resilience. Azlan Som is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of Malaysian cinema.

He’s currently working with at Logic & Magic.

Haruna Takahara

Director

HAT

Tokyo

Haruna Takahara joined HAT, a commercial production company, in 2020 and began her career as a CM planner. In 2023, she was promoted to the director's room after demonstrating her talents by winning the Grand Prix in the director category at the JAC AWARD, which is regarded as a stepping stone for young Japanese commercial directors. She also received the Sponsor's Award at the AWARD BOVA, a competition organized by a professional advertising magazine.

In 2024, she was the runner-up at the TikTok Film Festival, which was organized by TOHO, a film supply company, in collaboration with TikTok, a popular video platform. Within the first four years of her career, her work has garnered recognition through various awards.

Mayuka Kawamura

Director

AOI Pro.

Tokyo

Director/Planner, born in 1996.

After graduating from the Department of Design at Tokyo University of the Arts, she studied under Professor Michihiko Yanai at the university’s Design Research Department.

While at university, she explored the collaboration between sound and visuals, primarily using hand-drawn animation, stop motion, and rotoscope techniques.

Her past works include commercials for NISSAN “NEW AURA NISMO 4WD” and Haagen-Dazs “Haagen-Dazs QUIZ” and “Strawberry Ice Cream Story.”

In recent years, she has incorporated her dance experience into choreographed animations, creating projects such as KAGOME “Let’s Make Yaki-Ketchup! Yobikomi-kun Collaboration,” the NHK opening movie for “Boku wo Tabenai Kimi e,” and the ending movie for TV Tokyo’s “Shimoyama Meshi.”

She was a finalist in the JAC AWARD 2024 Director category.

Mika Sasaki

Director

TYO Inc.

Tokyo

Mika Sasaki has stared working as an assistant director since April, 2024 as she joined the commercial making company, TYO.

She studied English and American literature in college which she graduated last year.

Tomoya Matsushita

Director

AOI Pro.

Tokyo

Tomoya was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1998. After graduating from Meiji University, Faculty of Information and Communication, Department of Information and Communication, he joined AOI Pro. Inc., as a member of the Planning and Direction Department.

He enjoys depicting the unreal within reality—in other words, the extraordinary within the ordinary. His past works include At Home Web Commercial "Let’s Find at At Home" (2023), Amazon Ads Japan Twitch Ads Web Commercial (2024), and Panasonic Japan Smooth Epi Promotional Video (2025).

Moderator: Wuthisak Anarnkaporn

Founder & Director

FACTORY 01

Bangkok

Un, Wuthisak Anarnkaporn is a six-time International Grand Prix-winning film director and the founder of Asia’s leading production company, FACTORY 01. He has won Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the Film category at Cannes Lions for three different projects from three different countries within the same year.