The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) today unveiled the full lineup and other highlights of its 37th edition in a press conference held at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, one of the festival’s main venues.
As previously announced, TIFF will open with the world premiere of 11 Rebels, an action-packed jidaigeki period piece directed by Shiraishi Kazuya, and close with the French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio, a Cannes standout directed by Christophe Honoré. The 10-day festival will feature screenings and extensive related events in the Hibiya-Yurakucho-Marunouchi-Ginza area of Tokyo from October 28 to November 6, 2024.
Festival Chairman Ando Hiroyasu delivered opening remarks at the conference, highlighting three major focuses of this year’s TIFF: enhancing the festival’s international exchange initiatives, nurturing talents for the industry’s future, and implementing programs to support female empowerment.
TIFFCOM Managing Director Ikeda Kaori then discussed TIFFCOM 2024, TIFF’s affiliated marketplace, which will be hosting its 21st edition from October 30 to November 1 at the Hamamatsuchokan Building, a short ride from TIFF’s main venues. Ikeda highlighted TIFFCOM’s role in helping propel the continuous growth of the industry, with programs that focus on projects from their initial stages of development onward, as well as the second Story Market, the fifth annual Tokyo Gap-Financing Market, and a selection of films from Italy.
Internationally acclaimed Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, who will serve as the President of the International Competition Jury at the 37th TIFF, sent a message that was shared with the audience (see more in the full press release). His fellow jurors will be Hungarian film director and screenwriter Enyedi Ildikó, Japanese actor Hashimoto Ai, French actor Chiara Mastroianni, and Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To.
The 37th TIFF Festival Navigator Kikuchi Rinko then took to the stage, and shared her thoughts on serving in the role, noting that the festival provides both filmmakers and audiences with the “rare and precious opportunity” to meet one another and share the common language of cinema. (See more in the full press release..)
Following an introduction to TIFF Opening Film 11 Rebels (by Shiraishi Kazuya) and Closing Film Marcello Mio (by Christophe Honoré), TIFF Programming Director Ichiyama Shozo shared highlights of the festival’s ten sections, including the Competition, Gala Selection, and others. The Competition includes 15 films*, nine of them world premieres, selected from among 2,023 titles from 110 countries and regions.
*See full release for the full list of Competition titles.
Three Japanese directors whose work will receive world premieres in Competition then joined Ichiyama on stage to make remarks about their selection: Katayama Shinzo (Lust in the Rain), Ohku Akiko (She Taught Me Serendipity) and Yoshida Daihachi (Teki Cometh). (See the full press release for comments)
Senior Programmer Ishizaka Kenji appeared by video to introduce the Asian Future section lineup and provide highlights of the 10 films from emerging filmmakers in Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong and Japan, all of whom are receiving their world premieres and will be eligible for awards. He noted that the tightly curated selection features directors who are sure to become future masters.
Ichiyama then returned to introduce the Nippon Cinema Now section, which will showcase 12 new and recent Japanese films, before inviting the section’s Director in Focus, Irie Yu (A Girl Named Ann) on stage to make remarks about the special program that will highlight five of his works. Irie joked that he’d appeared at TIFF the first time wearing a tracksuit (for the 2008 film 8000 Miles: SR Saitama’s Rapper), but he’d grown up and was now wearing a business suit.
A newly established section, Women’s Empowerment, focusing on films directed by female filmmakers or on female-centric themes, will be co-hosted with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at TIFF 37. Senior Programmer Andrijana Cvetkovikj gave an overview of the section’s goals and themes. She noted, “I grew up in a world where a girl’s dream of becoming a director was a far-fetched one; so I’m proud to be a part of this transformation. With this program, we advocate for an inclusive world where there is gender equality in cinema.”
Animation Programming Advisor Fujitsu Ryota provided an overview of the Animation section, which includes internationally acclaimed animated works as well as Japanese titles. It will feature seven recent Japanese masterworks, as well as five films from overseas, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival award winning films, and a 50th anniversary screening of the influential Space Battleship Yamato, which will also be the subject of one of the section’s three seminars.
For the fifth year, TIFF and The Japan Foundation will be co-presenting the popular TIFF Lounge talk sessions, featuring leading auteurs from Asia and beyond. This year’s participants will include Johnnie To, Eric Khoo and others. Among the many other event highlights will be a masterclass with Hong Kong filmmaker and superstar Sammo Hung; a Kering’s Women In Motion event; a Tarr Béla symposium entitled “The Fukushima Hamadori Film, Art and Culture Project × Tokyo International Film Festival 2024 — Fukushima Hamadori as Seen with Béla Tarr;” and an Asian Film Student Exchange Program masterclass with Kurosawa Kiyoshi.
The 37th TIFF will be held from October 28 to November 6, 2024 in the Hibiya-Yurakucho-Marunouchi-Ginza area and other venues in Tokyo.
