Wim Wenders, Zhang Yimou Make Star Turns as Tokyo Film Festival Celebrates Reboot of International Relations

Wim Wenders returned to the Croisette at the Cannes Film Festival in a big way this year with “Perfect Days.” The German director’s first film since 2017’s “Submergence” wowed audiences at the festival, with the movie nabbing the Prize Of The Ecumenical Jury and the Best Actor Award for star Kōji Yakusho. Now, after further screenings at Telluride, TIFF, London, and NYFF this Fall, it’s time for US audiences to see “Perfect Days” for themselves.

Japan has dominated this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), with German filmmaker Wim Wenders’ latest Tokyo-set pic and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car follow-up taking the top prizes. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two films from Japan, Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” and Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” won the top prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Friday. Multiple other honors went to films from Korea and Kazakhstan. The 16th edition of the APSA Awards was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and recognized films from eight countries. “Perfect Days,” a gentle comedy drama about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo finding happiness in the everyday, premiered in Cannes and more recently was selected as Japan’s Oscar contender and as the opening title of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

This year’s Tokyo Film Festival closes this evening with the world premiere of Godzilla Minus One, the latest edition in Toho’s monster franchise, directed by filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki. 

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent “Snow Leopard,” the last film by Tibetan director Pema Tseden prior to his death in May, was awarded the Grand Prix at the closing ceremony of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday. Premiering out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival and later screening at Toronto, the film depicts the argument between a father and his adult son of how to deal with the title beast, which has descended from the mountains to kill sheep in their village.

Family drama Snow Leopard, directed by the late Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, has won the Tokyo Grand Prix, the top prize at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list of winners.

Very little has been heard from Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya since her buzzy 2017 Cannes title Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts. 

“Ticket sales have gone up 27%, and we’re only at the midway point, so I’m quite happy,” Ando Hiroyasu, Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF) Chairman, told Deadline as he shuttled between engagements at this year’s busy and buzzy comeback edition. 

Veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung passed through the Tokyo Film Festival this afternoon, where he led a masterclass session following a screening of 2046, his sixth collaboration with filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai. 

As the Tokyo Film Festival returns with a focus on international expansion, this year’s MPA seminar hosted as part of the festival industry program was centered around how to make the country a more attractive production environment for international producers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou has a tough guy exterior – leather jackets, black shirts and a square jaw that has earned him acting awards alongside his top-level credentials as cinematographer and director of “Hero,” “The Road Home” – but on a visit to the Tokyo International Film Festival this week he was all smiles and frank talk. Zhang received a lifetime achievement award on Monday. On Tuesday the festival gave a gala screening to his historical blockbuster “Full River Red.” And at a Wednesday masterclass, Zhang was more gushed usable details about his process and frank advice for newcomers. “To be a film director you need to be physically in good shape. No smoking and no drinking,” he advised. “I generally adopt a two-stage process,” he explained.

Godzilla Minus One, the latest edition in Toho’s monster franchise and the closing film at this year’s Tokyo Film Festival, has locked a deal for distribution in the UK and Ireland. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ichiyama Shozo assumed control of the program of the Tokyo International Film Festival after a long programming career that included Tokyo and the slightly more indie Tokyo Filmex events. He is also a regular producing partner of Chinese art-house darling Jai Zhangke. These influences have shaped his approach to this year’s Tokyo IFF lineup, he told Variety.

“The pandemic has finally passed, and cinema has returned to normal, but the way people think has changed dramatically,” Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou concluded when quizzed by Deadline about cinema post-Covid 19 during a brief chat at the Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF). 

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung spoke about the making of “The Taste of Things” (previously titled “The Pot-au-Feu”) the food-themed romantic drama that won him best director award at Cannes this year, at the master class held Tuesday at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Screening in TIFF’s Gala section, the film stars Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel as respectively a chef and gourmet.

Thierry Frémaux is best known internationally as the long-time head of France’s Cannes Film Festival, which is organized out of its offices in Paris’s trendy Marais neighborhood.

Tokyo’s International Film Festival returned this evening for its first completely unrestricted, post-COVID-19 edition with a well-attended screening of Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days. 

Close to 40 years after Wim Wenders won the Cannes Palme d’Or for Paris, Texas, its enigmatic ending continues to spark debate in cinephile circles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong-based studio Edko Films will launch “Table for Six 2,” a sequel to its 2022 smash hit, at TIFFCOM, the rights market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The heartfelt comedy is again written and directed by Sunny Chan, who enjoyed breakout success with “Table for Six,” a comedy-drama that starts with an awkward family reunion dinner where past and present romantic relationships are tangled and almost anything that could go wrong did. For the sequel. Chan has reunited the original cast – Stephy Tang, Louis Cheung, Ivana Wong, Lin Min Chen, Peter Chan Charm Man – for three weddings and their aftermath.

Wim Wenders and Thierry Frémaux signalled their support on Saturday for the Hollywood actors strike as the industrial action hits its 100th day.