A thoroughly Asian fest for the region and beyond

TADANOBU Asano (center) in “Ruined Heart” photo: Albert Banzon/Kamias Overground

TOKYO—The Tokyo International Film Festival (IFF), now on its 27th edition, sees more Asian films in its annual lineup in the coming years.

The festival, which opens today (and runs until Oct. 31), recently teamed up with UniJapan and the Japan Foundation (through the Japan Foundation Asia Center), to implement various programs—foremost of which is to include more Asian titles in its different sections.

Tokyo is one of only three Asian fests (along with India’s Goa and China’s Shanghai) on the list of Top 14 international film festivals drafted by the Federation of Film Producers Associations.

As newer and more aggressive festivals like Busan and Hong Kong make strides in the global scene, Tokyo IFF stakes its claim in the region by beefing up its Asian content while featuring Hollywood marquee names at the same time.

Disney film opens

This year’s opening film is Don Hall and Chris Williams’ “Big Hero 6,” the latest 3D animated feature from Walt Disney. Curiously, this superhero toon flick has a distinct Asian flavor, as it is set in a fictional city named Sanfransokyo (San Francisco and Tokyo combined) and features a robotics wiz hero named Hiro Hamada.

Closing film is Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki’s “Parasyte,” which is based on a science-fiction horror manga (comic book).

As unique Japanese contributions to pop culture, anime, manga and sentai take centerstage in the festivities. Ultraman promises to make an appearance on the red carpet as well.

As a cultural ambassador, anime strengthens the fest’s brand as a unique Asian festival.

This year, three Filipino films are part of the program. A total of 1,373 titles from 92 countries were submitted, but only 15 made it to the final list for the main competition, including Filipino filmmaker Khavn de la Cruz’s “Ruined Heart: Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore.”

Pepe Diokno’s “Above the Clouds” is competing in the Asian Future section, and Lav Diaz’s Locarno-winning epic “Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon” is featured in the World Focus section.

RURU Madrid in “Above the Clouds”

Diokno finds the inclusion of three Filipino films in the roster a reassuring development. He explained: “It’s awesome. Lav, Khavn and I are very different filmmakers and our works are very different films that show diverse facets of Filipino life. The Tokyo audiences will see a wide [perspective] of Philippine cinema, what it is becoming. I think they will find that it’s a very exciting time.”

A good number

In his inimitable way, De la Cruz pointed out the significance of having three Filipino films in the festival: “Three is the number of optimism, movement, expansion … Three is always a good number.”

Diokno is looking forward to his Tokyo debut: “Screening a film for the very first time is a lot like seeing your baby walk for the first time. It’s scary. You don’t know if it’s going to stumble, but you do hope that eventually, it will find its bearings and start [moving] on its own. I’m coming in with no expectations. I just know that I am proud of this baby, and I hope that it finds its audience in Tokyo and beyond.”

De la Cruz echoed the sentiment: “I hope the Japanese audience likes my film.” His work is truly a global project, with an Australian cinematographer (Christopher Doyle), a Japanese actor (Tadanobu Asano) and a Mexican actress (Nathalia Acevedo).

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