By Mark Schilling
Now in its 18th edition, the Tokyo International Film Festival, says director Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, "aims to be a must-see event for those who want to understand the current state of world cinema." The focus, however, is on films from Asia and Japan, especially in the four main sections: Competition, Special Screenings, Winds of Asia and Japanese Eyes, which unspool from October 22 to 30.
The festival is actively promoting the Japanese film industry to the world as not only a producer, but a partner in remakes and co-productions. Two examples are the opening film, Zhang Yimou's Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, and closing film, Song Hae-seong's Rikidozan. Both are international co-productions made with Japanese financing and talent for the international market.
TIFF is also presenting several new events this year, the biggest being the Akihabara-Enta Matsuri, a festival of games, anime, manga and character goods in Tokyo's Akihabara district, a Mecca for Japanese pop culture. "This is going to be a highlight -- a fun event," says Kadokawa. "Akihabara is the hottest spot in Japan now." The festival's value to TIFF, he adds, is that "it displays the entire range of Japanese entertainment contents, of which films are an integral part."
TIFF is more than its Japanese and Asian emphasis, however: It is also an important platform for the autumn and winter line-ups of local distributors, including major titles from Hollywood and Europe. But Hollywood, notes Kadokawa, is changing: "The era of the big series like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Matrix and Star Wars is ending. We're seeing more American films with strong themes and real substance."
One example in the TIFF Special Screenings is Scott McGehee and David Siegel's Bee Season, a drama starring Richard Gere and Julliette Binoche as the parents of a seemingly ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent for spelling, talent that transforms her relationship with her family -- and the family itself. "It's a great film that deals with real issues," says Kadokawa. "It's going to change the image of American cinema for a lot of people." The festival, he adds, has programmed more films like it "that break the usual Hollywood rules."
He also excited by films by young Japanese directors, such as Tatsushi Omori's The Whispering of the Gods in the Competition and Kenta Fukasaku's Under The Same Moon in Special Screenings, that represent what he calls a "new Nouvelle Vague." "The Japanese film industry had its first Nouvelle Vague fifty years ago with the films of Nagisa Oshima and Kiju Yoshida. Now these new directors are bringing the same kind of fresh energy to Japanese films...It's our job to discover and present that sort of talent."
Another role of the festival, he believes, is to serve "as a launching pad to the world." He mentions Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, a film by Chinese director Lu Chuan that was awarded TIFF's Special Jury Prize last year: "Lu Chuan said the acclaim he received at TIFF helped him get his film nominated by China for a Foreign Film Academy Award."
The ultimate goal, says Kadokawa, is to make Tokyo a major festival on a par with Venice, Berlin and Cannes: "They're our models. We can't surpass them, but we'll try hard to catch up to them."
World premieres to watch at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Competition
Loach is Fish
A drama by Yang Yazhou about a single mother with two daughters who leaves China's countryside for Beijing, there to build a new life. Instead, she meets a laborer with the same last name who offers to buy her a house -- in exchange for sex.
Yang's previous film, Pretty Big Feet, won him the Best Director prize at the 2002 Golden Rooster Awards in Taiwan and was a box office success in China, as well as being screened widely at festivals around the world.
Special Screening
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Opening Screening)
Zhang Yimou and Japanese screen legend Ken Takakura joint forces in a drama about an elderly man's ardous research trip in China, undertaken as a last gift for his dying son. Now in his eighth decade, with 203 films to his credit, former action star Takakura can still pack theatres in Japan, while Zhang's reputation should give this big-budget drama international play.
