Tokyo Film Festival Heads Dissect 2023 Comeback Edition And Discuss Future Plans: “We Want To Move The Timing Of The Festival”

Zac Ntim
·3 min read

“Ticket sales have gone up 27%, and we’re only at the midway point, so I’m quite happy,” Ando Hiroyasu, Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF) Chairman, told Deadline as he shuttled between engagements at this year’s busy and buzzy comeback edition.

Hiroyasu assumed the role of Chairman in 2019, sheltering the event through a brutal pandemic, and has since implemented a series of structural changes to increase its global footprint. Some of his statement changes include switching the festival hub from Tokyo’s corporate-heavy Roppongi Hills for the luxury culture district of Hibiya-Ginza, where the festival’s presence now dominates the streets with posters, lanyard-wielding guests, and a smart open-air cinema.

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“The number of films shown this year has increased by 25%,” Ando said of the year’s program, adding the biggest difference from previous editions is the number of international visitors.

“Last year, only 104 people came from abroad. This year, that number is almost 2000, including journalists and people associated with the films and the tourists coming to Japan for the festival. That is a big jump, so we are coming back to normal,” he said.

While Ando cut a confident and celebratory figure, his focus remained squarely on what he has previously described as his plan to “upgrade” the festival, which he said still occupies a “rather difficult position” within the festival calendar.

“When we start collecting films from foreign countries in July or August, it’s the holiday season. People are away from their countries, so it’s very difficult to get in touch with distributors,” he said. “In that sense, we have a handicap. We want to move the timing of the festival to a better position, but it’s not so easy.”

TIFF’s long-term strategy, he continued, is to expand the festival’s brand internationally while strengthening ties with neighboring countries.

“We’re a very young festival, so even if we want to become something like Cannes, Venice, or Berlin, it wouldn’t be so easy,” he said. “Being in Asia, we are a little far away from Europe, so I want to put more emphasis on Asian countries that are close to Japan, like China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, or even Iran or India.”

Ando’s desire for a strong pan-Asian TIFF can already be felt in this year’s program, with three films from Japan in the main competition — the same number as from China. The festival’s centerpiece masterclass sessions also almost entirely feature local talent. Participants include Zhang Yimou, who also picked up the fest’s Lifetime Achievement Award; Hong Kong actor Tony Leung; Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda; and filmmakers Gu Xiaogang and Mouly Surya will pick up the festival’s Kurosawa Akira Award at the closing ceremony.

“Three is one of the biggest numbers of Japanese filmmakers in competition,” Ichiyama Shozo, TIFF Programming Director, told Deadline.

“These films are from not well-known filmmakers. A Foggy Paradise is a first feature film, Who Were We? is a second feature film, and (Ab)normal Desire is a third feature film. I hope these films can find an opportunity to be shown in other film festivals after Tokyo. I think they have a chance, and that’s why we selected them.”

The closing film at TIFF this year is Toho’s Godzilla Minus One, the latest edition in the monster franchise. The pic is directed by filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki and is set in post-WW2 Japan.

“This new film is very well made,” Ichiyama said of Minus One. “It’s a kind of homage to the first Godzilla film in 1955. I was very moved by the film. It has a very strong anti-war message. That’s why I decided to show it. Audiences will love the film, I’m sure.”

The Tokyo Film Festival runs until November 1.

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