The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, which runs on March 19-23, is offering one of the biggest cash prizes for independent filmmakers. The winner of the Off-Theater Competition, judged by a committee led by Isshin Inudo, will be awarded 2 million yen.

The prize money, furnished by SKY PerfecTV!, will be used to finance a new film by the winning director, which must be completed in time to be shown at next year's festival.

SKY PerfecTV! is also working with the festival to have the 34 participating films broadcast on the service's movie channels on the same day as their screenings, with viewer fees partly subsidized by the festival.

The Yubari film festival was established in 1990 but was canceled in 2006 after the city went bankrupt. It was finally revived this year by the non-profit organization Yubari Fanta.