TOKYO FILMeX INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016
Cinephilia to Reign as FILMeX Returns
TOKYO FILMeX INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
東京フィルメックス
Japanese with English subtitles
Venue: Yurakucho Asahi Hall, Toho Cinemas Nichigeki | Nov. 19 to 27, 2016
Official website:
filmex.net/2016en/
Theater website:
www.asahi-hall.jp/yurakucho/access/
Theater website:
www.tohotheater.jp/theater/034/access.html
Tariff:
General: ￥1,800, Under 25 years old: ￥1,300. Go to http://filmex.net/2016en/ticket
Advance tickets: ¥1,000 or ¥1,300 online from Nov. 3, 2016. Go to http://7ticket.jp/sc/mb6e
Talk event: Visit official site for details: http://filmex.net/2016en/schedule
The fall cinema-going season would not be complete without the carefully curated lineup of international film delicacies that is Tokyo FILMeX. A hand-crafted festival of unique titles that would not otherwise be viewable in Japan, FILMeX returns for its 17th iteration for nine days, from November 19 – 27, at its home in Yurakucho. The guiding hands of Festival Director Kanako Hayashi and Program Director Shozo Ichiyama are evident, as always, in the lineup of extraordinary titles.
The Opening Film is the latest from one of the festival’s favorite filmmakers, Kim Ki-duk, The Net. This time, the provocateur tells the story of a poor North Korean fisherman who accidentally defects and is groomed by a South Korean officer to be a spy. Also hotly anticipated is the Closing Film, Trivisa, produced by Johnny To, who oversaw three award-winning directors from the Hong Kong Fresh Wave Short Film Competition, Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong, to tell the story of three criminals who plan a big score just as Hong Kong is being handed over to China in 1997.
FILMeX lovers will be thrilled to see that Cut director Amir Naderi is returning to Tokyo with his latest work, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Naderi received the "Glory to the Filmmaker" award. The ebullient Iranian director’s Monte was shot entirely in Italy, and takes place in the late Middle Ages, when its protagonist embarks on a quixotic quest to move a mountain.
Other familiar FILMeX auteurs are also screening in the five-film Special Screenings lineup, including Cambodian-French director Rithy Panh with Exile, and China’s Wang Bing with Bitter Money.
This year, 10 new films by the best emerging filmmakers in Asia have been selected for the FILMeX Competition section — all of which will screen with English subtitles. There are two Japanese films featured in the section, Our Escape by Nobuteru Uchida and Suffering of Ninko by first-time director Norihiro Niwatsukino.
Our Escape
Japan / 2016 / 115 min. / Director: Nobuteru Uchida
Tokyo Filmgoer is especially excited about the return of Uchida, whose three-year run of three exceptional films abruptly ended in 2013. The writer-director’s Love Addiction won him the FILMeX Grand Prize in 2010. He followed that up with the Fukushima-set drama Odayaka in 2012, and the small-town tale Love Bombs in 2013. And then, silence. His latest, Our Escape, is a powerful work about a loner who gets involved with a woman who is party to a honey-trap scam, exploring what the festival calls “Uchida’s common theme of dependence on others, to an extreme extent.”
Making his remarkable feature debut, Niwatsukino premieres Suffering of Ninko, the tale of the titular monk, who escapes the constant attentions of women (they find him irresistibly attractive), only to find himself tasked with ridding a village of the yama onna (mountain witch) who is draining its menfolk of their vigor. The visually rich yokai monster story crosses a jidaigeki with animation and other special effects, creating an exciting new genre.
Suffering of Ninko
Japan / 2016 / 70 min. / Director: Norihiro Niwatsukino
Heading the FILMeX Competition Jury is veteran author, critic, programmer, filmmaker and raconteur Tony Rayns, whose work helped focus international attention on many of today’s most acclaimed East Asian directors, including Japan’s “Beat” Takeshi Kitano — whose office supports FILMeX — and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Rayns will be joined on the jury by Filipina actress Angeli Bayani, Korean director Park Jung-Bum, Japanese film historian Tamaki Matsuoka and French producer Catherine Dussart. Together, they will bestow a Grand Prize, which is a handsome ¥1 million; and a Special Jury Prize ( ¥500,000).
There are also five films in the FILMeX Classics section, by such auteurs as Iran’s Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Taiwan’s Edward Yang and King Hu. For our money, the truly unmissable one is by Japan’s Tai Kato. Marking the centenary of Kato’s birth, FILMeX is presenting the staggeringly beautiful 1981 film The Ondekoza. Tai spent nearly two years completing the documentary-performance art film, but it was prevented from being theatrically released due to rights issues. This digitally remastered version received its world premiere at the 2016 Venice Film Festival, and it is glorious. The Ondekoza are a Japanese drumming ensemble formed in 1971, based on Sado island, who lived communally, creating all their own instruments, costumes and sets, as well as running several miles together every day. When the results of their rigorous training become clear, audience jaws are guaranteed to drop throughout the auditorium.
The Ondekoza
Japan / 1981 / 105 min. / Director: Tai Kato
FILMeX’s motto is “For the Bright Future of Cinema,” and it has a student jury that bestows a popular award, conducts workshops to “educate and encourage the next generation,” and brings emerging filmmakers from all over Asia to participate in its Tokyo Talents pitching sessions, running concurrently with the festival, during which the next generation is mentored by famous filmmakers and other industry veterans. This year for the first time, eight projects have been selected for the Next Masters Support Program, a new initiative to support Tokyo Talents alumni.
Toho Cinemas Nichigeki & Yurakucho Asahi Hall
* Doors Open 20 min. before each screening
Please be sure to check with the theater before going.