Tokyo, Japan / founded in 1985
Takes place in October
A festival founded in 1985 that takes up the last week of October on the calendar. The competition, for obvious reasons, is dominated by Asian films. The organizers are proud of the fact that from the first years of the festival’s life they have supported young directors in every possible way: this is where Alejandro González Iñárritu won with his first full length film “Love Bitch”. It is no coincidence that all the main prizes of the international competition (Grand Prix, Special Jury Prize, prizes for the best director, actor, actress, award for the “best artistic contribution”, Audience Award) are accompanied by checks for considerable sums of money (from 50 to 5 thousand dollars). Out-of-competition programs bring the total number of films screened in Tokyo to ~150, the norm for a modern film festival.
Running in parallel with the festival is the three-day TIFFCOM cinema market, considered one of the largest in Asia – last year it was attended by over 1000 “buyers” from all over the world.