The 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is scheduled to be held from Oct. 31 through Nov. 9, with the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo serving as its main venue. Although its film competitions, the festival's main attraction, have been canceled as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the festival is set to experiment with many new ideas, including achieving closer cooperation with Tokyo Filmex, another film festival that also boasts a large number of enthusiastic fans.
-- Premiers, directors' talks
While some film festivals around the world have been canceled, postponed or even held online, TIFF plans to generally hold its screenings in theaters as a way of conveying "the joy of seeing a movie in a theater," according to the organizer.
Over 113 films are scheduled to be shown, compared with 180 films last year. The festival's budget also saw a sharp decrease from the previous year -- from roughly 840 million yen to around 700 million yen. However, according to Takeo Hisamatsu, the festival director, "We are proud to have been able to improve our festival's content."
In lieu of the canceled competitions, 32 films from Japan, Asia and Europe are scheduled to be shown in the Tokyo Premier 2020 section of the festival, with 25 of those films being screened for the first time. Many were directed by up-and-coming directors who would have been strong contenders for awards had the competitions been held as originally planned.
According to Hisamatsu, the films were selected in line with the idea of "maintaining the festival's crucial mission of discovering and supporting new talent." Ten films from Japan, including "Zokki," co-directed by Naoto Takenaka, Takayuki Yamada and Takumi Saito, were chosen.
At a lineup announcement press conference on Sept. 29, actor Koji Yakusho, this year's festival ambassador, said: "We have no choice but to continue our work while keeping an eye on the situation. The most important thing for us is to continue."
Meanwhile, Koji Fukuda, a director whose works are featured in the festival's Japan Now section, said: "The high value of the festival stems directly from the fact that there is little public support for cultural and artistic activities in Japan. I'd like [the festival] to resolutely serve as the last bastion in the protection of movie diversity."
One of the experimental events that is creating quite a bit of buzz is the Asia Lounge Conversation Series of public discussions organized by director Hirokazu Koreeda. It is a daily livestream event centered at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, a satellite venue for the festival. Leading Asian filmmakers will discuss the future of film. A number of in-depth discussions are expected to be held between pairs of directors, such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Jia Zhang-Ke from China, and Yoshishige Yoshida and Rithy Panh from Cambodia.
"Because we are in an emergency situation, we are attempting to explore possible shapes films may take in the future," said Koreeda. "This may turn out to be a great turning point for the festival, going from being a stage for awarding prizes to becoming a place for cultural exchange among directors, actors and audience members," he added. It seems as though this year's festival will become one where its future existence will be considered.
-- Tokyo Filmex to also be held
The 21st Tokyo Filmex 2020 festival is slated to be held at the Toho Cinemas Chanter in Tokyo's Hibiya district from Oct. 30 through Nov. 7, about three weeks earlier than usual and largely coinciding with the TIFF.
Filmex introduces new international movie trends with a focus on Asian films, and is held in high regard by filmmakers both domestically and abroad. According to Shozo Ichiyama, the Filmex festival director, TIFF proposed the collaboration prior to the pandemic, basing its decision on the relationship between the Cannes Film Festival and the Directors' Fortnight, which are held concurrently with each other in France.
The most anticipated synergistic effect of the two film festivals -- now rendered impossible by the pandemic -- was to have been interaction among the guests. Even so, it is possible that the cooperation will continue from next year onward. In addition, "If you happen to be in Tokyo at this time, you'll be able to see some of this year's major Asian films," said Ichiyama, citing another possible collaboration benefit for an international audience.
Filmex will hold this year's competition for emerging Asian filmmakers according to schedule. Films that received high praise at film festivals around the world, such as "It Must Be Heaven" directed by Elia Suleiman and "Irradiated" directed by Rithy Panh, will also have special screenings.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
