The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) will be highlighting the work of Japan’s two iconic directors: Mamoru Hosoda and Shunji Iwai. The festival kicks off in late October this year.
TIFF revived its Special Focus on Japanese Animation in 2014 with acclaimed director Hideaki Anno, the writer/supervising director of the upcoming Godzilla Resurgence. In 2015, TIFF showcased works of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko who is known as the early creator of anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. This year, Hosoda will be in the Animation Focus section of the festival, a programme. Hosoda is often dubbed as The Next of Hayao Miyazaki, he is the brilliantly inventive director behind Summer Wars (09) and Wolf Children (12).
“Mamoru Hosoda is a director who evolves with the times. Using as motifs universal themes such as romance, marriage, child rearing and family, he deftly wields the power of expression only available to the form of animation to spin stories that are emotive, more than anything. Now is an opportunity to once again follow the path of this artist’s diligence and growth, to take a close look at his art, and bring it to the world,” said Ryusuke Hikawa, Anime Critic/Visiting Professor,Meiji University Graduate School.
His latest masterpiece, The Boy and the Beast (15), became the highest-grossing local film at the Japanese box office in 2015. It was also distributed in nearly 50 territories overseas. Hosoda’s universal themes and storytelling genius have attracted audiences of all ages worldwide and his devoted fan base continues to expand with each exhilarating new release.
While for Iwai, his works will appear in TIFF’s Japan Now section. Iwai is known for his groundbreaking style and youth-focused vision which gained its own name as “Iwai Aesthetic”. Iwai has established himself as one of his home country’s top filmmakers with such contemporary gems as Love Letter, Swallowtail Butterfly and Hana and Alice.
“Shunji Iwai is a rare director who renders fable-like tales of contemporary Japanese youth and paints memory, time, space and society with his distinctive visual style. In A Bride for Rip Van Winkle, his most recent film, he continues to create universal worlds that are rooted in Japanese aesthetics. He has always had an eye on the international market, and now, more than ever, he is a director who deserves greater overseas attention,” said Kohei Ando, TIFF Programming Advisor.
His latest masterpiece, A Bride for Rip Van Winkle is a tale about relationship between human and the morality. Iwai’s films have continued to be in a class all their own, each a mesmerising work of transcendent power, applauded across the globe by fans and critics alike.
In the past two years, TIFF have launched new sections to showcase Japanese filmmakers who are also in the international spotlight. The Japanese Classics section will highlight masterpieces slated for rediscovery, while the Japanese Cinema Splash is a competitive section that introduces new works by independent Japanese filmmakers. TIFF also showcases talent and films from the past to the present and beyond.
The 29th TIFF will take place from 25 October to 3 November 2016 at Roppongi Hills and other venues in Tokyo.
