Tokyo Film Festival Plans a Review of Its Place in Asia and the World

The Tokyo International Film Festival will take a hard look at itself once its 39th edition ends, its director, Hisamatsu Takeo, has said. The review will reassess the festival's standing on the international circuit before its 40th anniversary next year, according to Variety.

Hisamatsu said the time has come to decide where the festival should stand, both within Asia and in the wider world. He said the direction set by that review will shape the festival's course for the next decade, up to its 50th edition.

Part of the question is rivalry. Hisamatsu said Tokyo is in a competitive relationship with the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, because the two are close geographically and their dates sit near each other.

The 39th edition has grown to 204 films, up from 184 last year. Nippon Cinema Now, a showcase for Japanese work, becomes a competitive section for the first time, with two new awards attached.

A new programme, the TIFF Work-in-Progress, or TIFF-WIP, links Japanese films that are still being made with overseas festivals and industry figures. The aim is to raise their profile abroad and open doors to overseas distribution, the business of getting a film into cinemas and onto screens in other countries.

Japan was Country of Honor at this year's Cannes Film Market, and more than 30 Japanese films played at the Busan festival. Those numbers give the Tokyo review a wider backdrop.

The festival opens with Sukiyaki, directed by Zeze Takahisa. Yamazaki Takashi's Godzilla Minus Zero is the centrepiece, and Yeon Sang-ho's Colony closes the event. Shozo Ichiyama is the festival's programming director, according to Deadline.

The festival is organised by UniJapan, which also runs TIFFCOM, a market where sales agents and buyers do business on films before they reach audiences. Hisamatsu is UniJapan's executive director as well as the festival's director. He was appointed to the festival role in April, and in October he described the 39th edition as a springboard for a more exciting 40th.

Before that anniversary, the festival's next public event is an education symposium on Saturday, 31 October, from 13:00 to 19:00, which Hisamatsu is listed to take part in as a facilitator of the TIFF Academy.