In addition to the main awards and the Challenge Stage awards, special awards were also to be given by celebrity judges, including New York Yankees player Hideki Matsui (who suffered a wrist injury playing baseball and had to withdraw from the contest), comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, and author Lily Franky.
While watching the premiere of Hitoshi Matsumoto's Dai Nipponjin he considered that the cost of making a film was higher than of putting on a festival, and so to allow people to enjoy watching films, perhaps his company could arrange their own.
Matsumoto, Nagano | Matsumoto | Leiji Matsumoto | Seicho Matsumoto | Hitoshi Sakimoto | Hitoshi Matsumoto | Tortoise Matsumoto | Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto | Keijiro Matsumoto | Jōji Matsumoto | Izumi Matsumoto | Hitoshi Tamura | Yukihiro Matsumoto | Tokumei Kakarichō Tadano Hitoshi | Seichō Matsumoto | Roy Matsumoto | Kiyoko Matsumoto | Kazuhiko Matsumoto | Hiroshi Matsumoto | David Matsumoto |