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Tokyo Takeaways: Five Themes From the Film Festival and Market
Trends emerging from the ongoing Tokyo International Film Festival include a new talent wave and growing government support for the industry.
Voter disillusionment and shifting party alliances make it difficult to determine the direction of the most current political winds in Japan – an inconclusive general election was held just a day before the Tokyo festival kicked off – but it seems that there may be cross-party support for development of the film industry. The talents talked up by Ichiyama included Tokyo-born Kim Yunsoo, an alumnus of the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, whose feature debut “Or Utopia” premiered in the strand. Kim previously won the Amazon Prime Video Take One Award for best short at the 34th TIFF in 2021; 2023 Amazon Prime Video Take One Award winner, Yang Liping, who graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media, directing course, and whose “Ashes” showed at the strand; the U.K.’s Oscar and BAFTA-nominated Mark Gill, whose Japan-set, Japanese and English-language “Ravens,” headlined by “Shogun” star Asano Tadanobu, and another highlight of the strand; and Takino Hirohito whose “The Bear Wait” premiered at Nippon Cinema Now.
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