TOKYO – Originally known as the “Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival,” one might think that this showcase of movies in a tiny town of 6,000 households in Japan’s snowy far north was just blowing its own trumpet.

Yet the tale of Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival’s continued existence embodies a decidedly more captivating screenplay than a preponderance of its films.

The town was officially founded in 1943 for the purpose of coal mining – on April 1 no less. But it was no joke when the mines closed in 1990, the last on Japan’s second biggest island of Hokkaido to shut down. At their height, the mines employed an estimated 120,000.

With the town’s very existence under threat, tourist attractions including amusements parks were built in a bid to find a lease of life for the community. One initiative was to recognize movies with an all-new film festival that would be split into an international section for young directors, and an out-of-theater section for Japanese amateurs. In its very first year actor Jon Voight and his then young daughter ­– Angelina Jolie – were the special guests.

Luck – or incredible foresight ­– struck again in 1993 with the visit of director Quentin Tarantino for the screening of “Reservoir Dogs.” While in his hotel room, the then relatively unknown filmmaker worked on his screenplay for “Pulp Fiction,” going on to honor the town with the naming of character Gogo Yubari in his later work “Kill Bill Vol.1.”

In 2007 though, the central government’s subsidies ran out and the entire town became the first in Japan to file for bankruptcy, while half of the Yubari government resigned. The 2007 festival was cancelled and it seemed like the “Adventure” in its title had come to an end.

The willpower of people of Yubari though remained undeterred and they sought successfully to revive it the festival in 2008, finding their own sponsors and TV coverage with a domestic satellite broadcasting company.

The townsfolk now give out locally-grown melons, the Yubari King, as gifts to guests. Given that pairs of the prestigious melons have sold for as much as 2.5 million yen ($26,600) at auction, the gesture is more than mere goodwill.

“It is hard to think of a small festival in a remote setting anywhere in the world with as much significance as the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival,” says Rob Schwartz, Tokyo-based reporter for The Hollywood Reporter.

“The festival has helped the fledgling careers of such filmmakers as Gaspar Noe, Robert Rodriguez, and Jan Sverak.”

This year’s edition, which runs from February 21­ through 25, is opening with a screening of Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” and closing with Tetsuya Shinohara’s “Sweetheart Chocolate,” starring Chiling Lin and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi.

The latter film tells the story of unrequited love over two decades centered around a store named Sweet Chocolate, in Yubari itself – further ensuring that the spirit of this small community is set to live on long after the coal ran out.