Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) physically kicked off its 10-day on Oct. 31, with an indoor Red Carpet event prior to the Opening Ceremony. With international travel restrictions still in place, the predominantly Japan-based filmmakers and stars appeared on a grand carpeted staircase at the Tokyo International Forum Hibiya, the ritzy central district in the Japanese capital.

Due to the pandemic, strict safety measures were in place and some symposia and talks will take place online to accommodate filmmakers who are overseas. TIFF said the festival will be screening over 100 films, including 32 titles selected for the special Tokyo Premiere 2020 section, making them eligible for the TIFF Audience Award.

Among the luminaries who walked the carpet were main Japanese director and actors including Akiko Ohku, Koji Fukada, and  internationally acclaimed actress Mariko Tsutsui.

Actors Win Morisaki (Ready Player One), Kaho Tsuchimura and Kota Takahashi of the Cannes Premiere 2020-labeled The Real Thing were also on the carpet. Said Morisaki, attending his very first TIFF, thanked the organizers for holding the festival physically, TIFF press release said. 

Director Akio Fujimoto, the double winner of TIFF awards in 2018 with his Passage of Life, was back with his new Japan-Vietnam coproduction,

 Malaysian director Edmund Yeo, winner of the TIFF Best Director Award in 2017 with Aqerat, appeared on the carpet after a two-week quarantine, along with Japanese members of the filmmaking team behind his Tokyo Premiere 2020 title Malu, which was partially shot in Japan.  

Other major guests included the stars of Special Screenings selection Food Luck, Tao Tsuchiya and Exile Naoto; and actress Makiko Watanabe, who appears in Lim Kah Wai’s Tokyo Premiere 2020 selection Come and Go. Lim had also self-quarantined for two weeks, since he had returned home to Malaysia due to the pandemic.

Hajime Hashimoto, director of TIFF Closing Film Hokusai, appeared with screenwriter-actress Ren Kawahara.

The Opening Ceremony then began with a spirited live performance by the Film Score Philharmonic Orchestra, playing a compendium of familiar themes songs from some of the world most beloved films.

TIFF Festival Chairman Hiroyasu Ando welcomed the audience from the stage, noting, “Since spring, we’ve been contemplating whether or not to hold the festival due to the pandemic. I’m deeply moved to see so many of you here today for our Opening Ceremony.”

After introducing all the filmmakers and stars who had just appeared on the Red Carpet, a series of congratulatory videos were shown, starting with Hiroshi Kajiyama, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, who mentioned that, despite the pandemic, such films as Today It’s My Turn had been able to open in theaters and to become a major hit in Japan, stressing the resilience of the film industry and the audience’s devotion to cinema.

Christopher Nolan also offered congratulations via video, and commented, “The fact that in these challenging times you’ve found a way to honor and enjoy watching films on the big screen is a source of inspiration to myself and other filmmakers around the world.

Also on video, Thierry Frémaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival and the Lumière Film Festival, noted that 2020 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of cinema and movie theaters. “This has been a difficult year for everyone,” he said. “However, organizing a film festival is a way to fight against those difficulties. People are making films all over the world, hoping that they would be shown and seen by the public. Encouraging the professionals also encourages the audience. It’s fantastic that the Tokyo International Film Festival is taking place. The cinema still has a great future, thanks to the organizers of the festival, the artists and the audience.”

Finally, Robert De Niro appeared via video, and said, he hope that [TIFF] will be a big, big success and we know that it will be.

Festival Ambassador Koji Yakusho, the internationally acclaimed actor of such films as Shall We Dance and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder, then took to the stage, where he was congratulated for his recent win at the Chicago International Film Festival as Best Actor for Under the Open Sky by Miwa Nishikawa.

The Japan Now Director in Focus Koji Fukada, a Cannes prizewinner, was brought to the stage with two of the stars of films that will be showcased in the section, actors Mariko Tsutsui (Harmonium, A Girl Missing) and Win Morisaki (The Real Thing).

Tsutsui was congratulated for her recent award from the Japanese government for her role in A Girl Missing. “But sadly, due to the coronavirus, there was no award ceremony, and I received my certificate at home through a courier service.”

At the completion of the Opening Ceremony, director Masaharu Take, screenwriter Shin Adachi and producer Gen Sato of TIFF Opening Film Underdog took to the stage with stars Takumi Kitamura and Kumi Takeuchi. Star Mirai Moriyama appeared on video behind them from Osaka.

The Tokyo International Film Festival will be showcasing films from around the world at Roppongi Hills from Oct. 31 – Nov. 9.