The Tokyo International Film Festival has unveiled a smaller, more compact selection for its 33rd edition (Oct. 31-Nov. 9). Exceptionally, this year’s Tokyo festival is held in partnership with Tokyo Filmex.
Three of the Tokyo festival’s traditional main sections – competition, Asian Future and Japanese Cinema Splash – are combined in into one, Tokyo Premiere 2020. And in place of the usual awards, only one, the Audience Award, will be bestowed.
The Tokyo Premiere section includes 32 films by both veteran and rising directors. Fully 25 are world premieres, and the remaining seven Asian premieres.
Ten Japanese films will be screened in Tokyo Premiere, including: festival opener “Underdog” by Masaharu Take (“100 Yen Love”); “Hold Me Back” by Akiko Ooku (“Tremble All You Want”); and “Come and Go,” a drama by Japan-based Malaysian filmmaker Lim Kah Wai.
Foreign films include: “February,” Bulgarian director Kamen Kalev’s drama that arrives as a Cannes Label title; “After Love,” U.K. director Aleen Khan’s immigrant drama that was a 2020 Cannes Critics Week selection; and “Apples,” Greek director Christos Nikou’s dark comedy that screened in Venice.
The Special Screenings section will showcase films scheduled for release in Japan in the coming months. Highlights include Venice Golden Lion winner “Nomadland,” the Oscar-nominated animation “Missing Link” and Golden Globe Best Picture nominee “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”
TIFF will also screen a section of five films by director Fukada Koji, as well as sections devoted to Japanese animation and Japanese film classics.
Talk events are planned with directors including: China’s Jia Zhangke; Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Koreeda Hirokazu, and Tomita Katsuya; Korea’s Kim Bora; Cambodia’s Rithy Panh; Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul; and Taiwan’s Huang Xi. Others will involve Japanese screenwriter Aizawa Toranosuke and actress Hashimoto Ai.