Little last year was a greater pleasure than attending the Tokyo International Film Festival, which combines numerous world premieres with restorations and first looks at tomorrow’s major voices. In a few weeks I’ll be returning to the festival, the full lineup for which has been unveiled today.
Junji Sakamoto’s Climbing for Life will serve as TIFF’s opening film; the Centerpiece spot is taken by Yoji Yamada’s Tokyo Taxi; and the closing-night title is Hamnet, whose own Chloé Zhao is recipient of this year’s Kurosawa Akira Award alongside Lee Sang-il (director of Japan’s Oscar entry Kokuho). Meanwhile, Soi Cheang (following Sammo Hung’s lead from last year) will deliver a masterclass.
The Japanese Classics lineup features retrospectives of Masahiro Shinoda, Mikio Naruse, and Shunji Iwai, as well as a program celebrating Yukio Mihsima’s centennial. Chief among them is Paul Schrader’s Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, which––I could barely believe this while reading it––will have its Japanese debut some 40 years late, but some note should be paid to Kon Ichikawa’s great Conflagration and Kenji Misumi’s The Sword.
See the full competition lineup below and explore TIFF’s program here:
Atropia — dir. Hailey Gates (USA)
Blonde — dir. Yuichiro Sakashita (Japan)
Echoes of Motherhood — dir. Nakagawa Ryutaro (Japan)
Golem in Pompei — dir. Amos Gitai (France)
Heads or Tails? — dir. Alessio Rigo de Righi & Matteo Zoppis (Italy/USA)
Hen — dir. György Pálfi (Greece/Germany/Hungary)
Maria Vitoria — dir. Mário Patrocínio (Portugal)
Morte Cucina — dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thailand)
Mother Bhumi — dir. Chong Keat Aun (Malaysia)
Mothertongue — dir. Zhang Lu (China)
Mother — dir. Teona Strugar Mitevska (Belgium/North Macedonia)
Palestine 36 — dir. Annemarie Jacir (Palestine/UK/France/Denmark)
Sermon to the Void — dir. Hilal Baydarov (Azerbaijan/Mexico/Turkey)
Take Off — dir. Pengfei (China)
We Are the Fruits of the Forest — dir. Rithy Panh (Cambodia/France)
The Greatest Funeral Hits — dir. Ziya Demirel (Turkey)
Halo — dir. Roh Young-wan (Korea)
Linka Linka — dir. Kangdrun (China/Tibet)
Kiiroiko — dir. Imai Mika (Japan/Taiwan)
The post 38th Tokyo International Film Festival Announces Lineup; Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters to Make Japanese Premiere first appeared on The Film Stage.
