Tokyo Film Market Moving to New Venue
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Tokyo’s annual TIFFCOM film rights market will relocate to a new, hotel venue closer to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The market will also return to dates which coincide with the movie showcase.
TIFFCOM will be held Nov. 4-6, 2020 at the Prince Park Tower Hotel, organizers announced on Thursday. The festival will run from Saturday Oct. 31 to Monday Nov. 9, 2020.
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After quitting an idiosyncratic venue in the Odaiba docklands area, TIFFCOM shifted to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro for the past three editions. The 40-year-old complex, which combines shopping center, government offices and exhibition space, was widely regarded as complicated and uncomfortable by market attendees. Nearby hotels were also disliked by foreign visitors.
The new venue is a basement-level ballroom within the upmarket Prince Park Tower hotel. Organizers report that it may offer more space for stands than the Ikebukuro market, and that they expect to secure bedrooms for visitors at the hotel and at the nearby Tokyo Prince Hotel.
The Prince Park Tower is close to the iconic Tokyo Tower broadcasting mast, and to the Akanebashi subway station. Google Maps suggests that it is 2.1 km from the festival’s Roppongi Hills hub and that walking between the two takes 28 minutes. Market organizers report recently covering the distance in 20 minutes on foot. They also expect to lay on shuttles between the two venues. The Oedo subway line provides an additional direct route.
In 2019, preparations for the coronation of the new emperor caused organizers to hold TIFFCOM several days earlier than the festival. That forced some foreign visitors into a choice between attending the market or the festival. The new plans re-establishes a convenient overlap of the two Tokyo events, but instead they clash with the American Film Market in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, the AFM announced plans to shorten its market from eight days to six, and to run from Tuesday to Sunday, Nov. 3-8, 2020.
“TIFFCOM2019 welcomed participants from 56 countries and regions around the world, and it’s growing bigger and bigger every year. Marking our 17th year in 2020, TIFFCOM will move to a new venue closer to the festival. TIFFCOM will continue developing as a marketplace for the latest comprehensive audiovisual projects and products, and an ever-expanding global network,” said TIFFCOM CEO Shiina Yasushi.
“This year’s Tokyo International Film Festival will deepen communications with other countries like never before, during this year of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics,” said Tokyo festival chairman Ando Hiroyasu. “Focusing on cooperation with TIFFCOM, which will once again be held at the same time as TIFF, we would like to enrich the festival’s content.”
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