JAPAN 2011 TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL DESTINATION TOKYO


The contents market of the Tokyo International Film Festival, TIFFCOM (October 24-26), brings together local product and high- profile sellers. Jean Noh reports


Sarah’s Key won best director and audience award at TIFF last year


Capitalising on the fertile range of animation, manga, film and TV content produced in Japan, the TIFFCOM market has, in recent years, also been drawing high-profile international sales agents such as Wild Bunch, Fortissimo Films, Celluloid Dreams, Memento Films and CJ Entertainment. All are looking to sell into Japan as well as strike deals with buyers throughout Asia. Last year, the event — which is


organised by METI and Unijapan, and co-hosted by TIFF — attracted a record-breaking 222 exhibitors, up 4% year on year. A total of 21,095 people (also up 4%) from 55 countries and regions visited the event. This year, TIFFCOM will move


Sketches Of Kaitan City premiered at TIFF in 2010


directors. The Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix comes with a cash prize of $50,000, while the Special Jury prize is worth $20,000. The awards for best director, best actress, best actor and best artistic contribution are worth $5,000 each. Yoda confirms that this year’s festival


will be the same size as last year. “Winds of Asia — Middle East, the world cinema and Japanese sections will be the same, with a push for Japa- nese classics and 3D films,” he says. “Focusing as much as we can on high- quality films is important for business.” The festival line-up is announced


in September, and TIFF will hold a classics retrospective on the legendary Japanese actress Kyoko Kagawa (see p9). The UK’s Jeremy Thomas — who produced Takashi Miike’s Cannes Com- petition entry Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai — will continue as execu- tive adviser for TIFF, a role he took on last year. Also returning is Tokyo’s dis- tinctive green carpet: the event has made environmental concerns central to its work.


n 6 Screen International May 2011 Yoda is realistic about expectations


for this year’s TIFF and TIFFCOM. In order to get the word out that the events are continuing as usual, he and his staff will meet with industry figures at festivals and markets such as Beijing, Cannes, Shanghai, Venice and Toronto. “It is good news that Japan has two


films in Competition at Cannes and a few others in different sections,” Yoda explains. “We’re sending the same number of people in terms of business and Japanese delegation to Cannes [as last year], and we are launching Japan Night at the Hotel Majestic on May 13. “It is not just the power of Japan’s


films and culture in the midst of this cri- sis that makes us proud, but also Tokyo’s infrastructure and building technology that have totally proved to meet expectations. Seeing is believing,” adds Yoda. He encourages people to witness the resilience for themselves in October, and lend their support to the recovering country. n


s TIFF is open for submissions until July 15


from the 40th and 49th floors to the 14th floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Building. The new layout aims to facilitate a wider variety of business opportunities by putting meetings, seminars and the DVD library all on one floor. Last year TIFFCOM launched


the first UniJapan Entertainment Forum (UEF) gatherings, with 62 speakers and 22 seminars, which were attended by more than 1,700 visitors.


“For this year’s UEF, to be held in October, we hope to host 20 seminars of all shapes and sizes,” says TIFFCOM head Mika Morishita, who anticipates around 2,000 visitors. TIFFCOM is now calling


for seminar proposals for UEF. Individual experts and organisations are welcome to suggest lectures, presentations and conferences on a range of subjects including nurturing content producers, digital film production (including 3D), financing for international co- productions and utilising film commissions and funding. “We welcome a variety of


topics, but hope to place special emphasis on international co-productions, international broadcasting, internet and mobile streaming, and the content industry seen from an academic standpoint,” says Morishita. UEF is also moving into new


territories. UEF@Hong Kong was held during Filmart earlier this year, and included a panel discussion on international co-production. UEF@Paris will be held on June 23 at the Futur en Seine, a digital lifestyle and industries biennial, details of which are still to be announced.


TIFFCOM saw a record-breaking 222 exhibitors for last year’s edition


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