Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet has been set as the closing film of the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, which has also revealed its gala and animati
Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet has been set as the closing film of the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, which has also revealed its gala and animation selections.
The period drama is fresh from winning the People’s Choice Award at Toronto, which Zhao previously won in 2020 with Nomadland.
The Beijing-born filmmaker was already set to attend Tokyo to accept the festival’s prestigious Kurosawa Akira Award. Her latest feature is based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel and stars Jessie Buckley as the wife of William Shakespeare, played by Paul Mescal, as they grieve the loss of their child.
The festival, set to run from October 27 to November 5, has also revealed that its Centrepiece feature will be Tokyo Taxi, a drama that marks the 91st feature of veteran Japanese filmmaker Yoji Yamada.
Produced to mark the 130th anniversary of his longtime studio, Shochiku, the film stars his muse Baisho Chieko and actor-singer Kimura Takuya, who reunites with the director for the first time since 2006’s Love And Honor.
An adaptation of 2022 French film Driving Madeleine, the story follows a poignant encounter between 85-year-old Madame Sumire and taxi driver Koji, who drives her to a nursing home where she has chosen to spend her last days, visiting places of significance throughout Tokyo en route.
Galas, animation
High-profile US, Hong Kong and Korean titles are among the selection of Gala titles set to screen at this year’s edition.
Scroll down for list in full
They include Ari Aster’s Eddington, Hikari’s Rental Family (which filmed in Japan), Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Peter Ho-sun Chan’s She Has No Name, Juno Mak’s Sons Of The Neon Night and Lim Dae-hee’s Holy Night: Demon Hunters, starring Don Lee.
Around half the gala titles are Japanese and include Eiji Uchida’s Night Flower and Koji Fukada’s Love On Trial, among others.
With its high pedigree of animation production, Japan also leads the animation lineup with features including Yasuhiro Aoki’s ChaO and Ryuya Suzuki’s Jinsei. The selection also comprises animated films from France, Spain, China and Mexico such as Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar and Decorado from Alberto Vazquez.
As previously announced, the festival will open with Junji Sakamoto’s Climbing For Life, the story of Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, who became the first woman to summit Mount Everest.
Market keynote
Separately, content market TIFFCOM, which run from October 29-31 in parallel with the festival, has revealed that its keynote seminar will be delivered by Tetsu Fujimura, CEO of Filosophia and executive producer of Netflix live-action series One Piece. He will discuss the future for global adaptations of Japanese IP.
TIFFCOM launched the Tokyo Story Market in 2023 to address the surge in adaptations and remakes of Japanese IP content, including manga, anime, and games for audiences around the world. As demand continues to grow, production companies with remake rights will join the publishers at the platform, which will be renamed Tokyo IP Market: Adaptation and Remake.
It will see the participation of six major publishers and production companies including Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shufu To Seikatsu Sha, Square Enix, Toei and Nihonbungeisha. TIFFCOM will match overseas producers attending the market and set up face-to-face business meetings to support productions of novel visual content works based on Japanese IP.
Tokyo 2025: Gala titles
Blue Boy Trial (Japan)
Dir. Kasho Iizuka
Bring Him Down To A Portable Size (Japan)
Dir. Ryota Nakano
Can’t Cry With Your Face (Japan)
Dir. Yuichiro Sakashita
Eddington (US)
Dir. Ari Aster
Holy Night: Demon Hunters (S Kor)
Dir. Lim Dae-hee
Love On Trial (Japan)
Dir. Koji Fukada
Night Flower (Japan)
Dir. Eiji Uchida
One Last Throw (Japan)
Dir. Jun Akiyama
Rental Family (US-Japan)
Dir. Hikari
She Has No Name (China)
Dir. Peter Ho-sun Chan
Sirat (Fr-Sp)
Dir. Oliver Laxe
Sons Of The Neon Night (HK)
Dir. Juno Mak
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (US)
Dir. Scott Cooper
Tokyo 2025: Animation titles
Allah Is Not Obliged (Fr)
Dir. Zaven Najjar
Angel’s Egg 4k Restoration (Japan)
Dir. Mamoru Oshii
ChaO (Japan)
Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki
Decorado (Sp)
Dir. Alberto Vázquez
Edge Of Time (China)
Dirs. Watanabe Shinichiro, Li Wei, Morita Shuhei, Weng Ming
I Am Frankelda (Mex)
Dirs. Roy Ambriz, Arturo Ambriz
Jinsei (Japan)
Dir. Ryuya Suzuki
Labyrinth (Japan)
Dir. Shoji Kawamori
The Last Blossom (Japan)
Dir. Baku Kinoshita
Little Amélie Or The Character of Rain (Fr)
Dirs. Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han
The Obsessed (Japan)
Dir. Wataru Takahashi
Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (Japan)
Dir. Mitsuyo Seo
COMMENTS