Tokyo Festival Expands Asia Focus

TOKYO – Six world premieres will unspool as part of the competition section at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival.

They include “My Original Dream” by China’s Hao Jie, “God Willing” by Italy’s Edoardo Falcone and “Snap” by Thailand’s Kongdej Jaturanrasmee.

The three Japanese titles: Kohei Oguri’s artist biopic “Foujita,” Koji Fukada’s sci-fi drama “Sayonara” and Yoshihiro Nakamura’s horror/thriller “The Inerasable” were announced previously.

As in previous editions, competition programmers focused primarily on Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with the only North American entry being Canadian director Robert Budreau’s Chet Baker biopic “Born to Be Blue.”

Other selections are mainly festival pick-ups, including Olmo Omerzu’s drama “Family Film” (San Sebastian), David Verbeek’s war film “Full Contact” (Toronto) and Rodrigo Pla’s suspense “A Monster with a Thousand Heads” (Venice).

As previously announced, the jury will be headed by Bryan Singer, with other jury members being Vietnamese director Tran Ahn Hung, Norwegian director Bent Hamer, Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi, Danish director Susanne Bier and Japanese director Kazuki Omori.

The festival also unveiled the Asian Future section for films by up-and-coming directors from Japan, Asia and the Middle East, the Japanese Cinema Splash section for Japanese indie films, the Panorama section for documentaries, animations and other films with popular appeal, the World Focus section of prize winners from other festivals without a Japanese release date, the Japan Now section for recent Japanese films making a splash at home and abroad.

Special Screenings for commercial films to be released in Japan in the fall and winter include the festival opening title, Robert Zemeckis’s “The Walk,” and closing film, Tetsuo Shinohara’s romantic drama “Terminal.” Other films with a Hollywood connection include “Woman in Gold,” “You’re Not You” and “Everest.”

The Japan Content Showcase, which includes the TIFFCOM film and TV market, will be held at Grand Pacific Le Daiba Oct. 20-22.

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