TOKYO (TR) – Next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival will include six world premieres in the competition section, organizers announced on Tuesday.
Chinese director Hao Jie’s “My Original Dream” and Japanese drama “Sayonara,” by director Koji Fukada, will be among the world premieres competing for the “Tokyo Grand Prix” prize and $50,000. Director Bryan Singer will head the competition jury.
In its 28th year, the 10-day event begins on October 22 with a screening of Robert Zemeckis’s “The Walk,” a film based on the story of Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist.
The “Japanese Splash” section contains eight independent films, including Rikiya Imaizumi’s “Their Distance.” The “Asian Future” section will screen productions by directors with two or fewer films to their credit.
A total of 23 internationally acclaimed films seeking Japanese distribution will be showcased in the “World Focus” section.
The festival will also pay tribute to cinema history. John Woo (“Red Cliff”) and Yoji Yamada (“The Twilight Samurai”) will receive the the second “Samurai Award,” which recognizes filmmakers who have consistently created groundbreaking films.
An Orson Welles retrospective will include screenings of “The Lady from Shanghai” and “The Third Man.” Meanwhile, a tribute to “Gundam” will feature screenings of 22 films in the popular robot animation series.
“Masters of J-Horror” will include two films by director Hideo Nakata (“Ghost Theater” and “Don’t Look Up”).
The closing film will be Tetsuo Shinohara’s drama “Terminal.”
