The 37th Tokyo International Film Festival, taking place from October 28 to November 6, has announced a lineup opening with Shiraishi Kazuya’s 11 Rebels and closing with Christophe Honoré’s Marcello Mio, in-between featuring new Asian directors, an animation sidebar, restored Japanese classics, and Akira Kurosawa’s favorite films (among them Breathless and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A Time to Live and a Time to Die). Complementing these will be masterclasses from Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Sammo Hung, as well as a Béla Tarr-led symposium. I’ll be traveling there from October 28 to November 2, with coverage to follow.
The main competition’s jury is spearheaded by Tony Leung and features Johnnie To, Chiara Mastroianni, Ildikó Enyedi, and Ai Hashimoto, while the 15-film lineup comprises an eclectic mix: nine world premieres of predominantly Asian titles, five Asian premieres, one international debut, and only a handful of European features among them.
See the competition lineup below and explore the full set of films at TIFF’s website:
- Adios Amigo (Ivan D. Gaona; Colombia; Asian Premiere)
- Big World (Yang Lina; China; World Premiere)
- Bury Your Dead (Marco Dutra; Brazil; Asian Premiere)
- Cadet (Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Kazakhstan; World Premiere)
- Daughter’s Daughter (Huang Xi; Taiwan; Asian Premiere)
- The Englishman’s Papers (Sérgio Graciano; Portugal; World Premiere)
- In His Own Image (Thierry de Peretti; France; Asian Premiere)
- Lust in the Rain (Katayama Shinzo; Japan/Taiwan; World Premiere)
- My Friend An Delie (Dong Zijian; China; World Premiere)
- Papa (Philip Yung; Hong Kong; World Premiere)
- Promise, I’ll Be Fine (Katarína Gramatová; Slovakia/Czech; World Premiere)
- She Taught Me Serendipity (Ohku Akiko; Japan; World Premiere)
- Teki Cometh (Yoshida Daihachi Japan; World Premiere)
- Traffic (Teodora Ana Mihai AP Romania/Belgium/Netherlands; Asian Premiere)
- The Unseen Sister (Midi Z; China; International Premiere)