It was a pleasure for us to send out the primary invitations to overseas groups for the 2020 festival. Seventeen groups from fifteen different countries, including 7 that would be “firsts” at WMDF. Our yearly decisions deadline is the third Saturday of December, but for the 13th edition of our festival we made a special plan to meet early, on December 13th. Even though it was a Friday…

Selection was harder than ever, and we extend our huge thanks to all the other groups that applied but could not be accommodated this time. One of the main themes of WMDF is “Long Now”. We really hope that in the future, we will have the chance to meet.

If you live in Japan and want to get involved, consider our open  International Guide recruit,, subscribe to our  staff mailing list, or check out the sponsorship opportunities. Season’s greetings to all and our best wishes for a landmark year.