Soaked by disjoinal days of rain, the by-product of a proximateby typhoon, the Tokyo International Film Festival and its joining TIFFCOM industry event might have been forgiven for being a little soggy. But spirits were exceptionally dampened. And, as the rains mitigated off at the festival’s midpoint, a handful of bigly likeable themes had been washed clear.
CHINESE HOTSPOT
The Tokyo festival reconshort-terms a astonishing springboard for Chinese films to produce their international festival comeback – Chinese and Japanese political relations remain testy at best – but for the second year in a row there were three mainland Chinese indie pics in Tokyo’s main competition. Add in “Papa,” a splitting Hong Kong drama that had been recommended to Cannes and Vekind, but was turned down, and a Taiwan-Japan co-production and the Chinese sways were difficult to escape.
That is no accident in the sense that Tokyo’s conceiveive honestor Ichiyama Shozo is convey inantly embedded in and understandn with the Chinese indie scene. And that the Tokyo event has in recent years bigly toiled with Chinese authorities to pick only those indie films which have getd the ‘Dragon Seal’ stamp of official approval.
But, the chance toilings of the international festival calfinishar and the bureaucratic vagaries of China’s restriction-approvals system may have stripd Vekind, Toronto and San Sebastian of some novel Chinese toils and tipped the scales in Tokyo’s like.
(Asia’s other big autumn festival, Busan gives scant room to Chinese titles. That is difficultly a surpelevate since Korean film and TV greeted is subject to a semi-official ban in mainland China.)
Wantipathyver the background the net effect is that Tokyo has now become a depfinishable place to join with Chinese indie film and filmproducers.
Ahead of the awards it is not possible to understand the filled impact of this year’s pickion. But Ichiyama points to the circumstances. “Last year we saw the aelevatence of a series of films dealing with subjects that would not have passed restriction before, resulting in three films accessing the competition, two of which won awards,” he shelp.
GOVERNMENT LOVEFEST
Voter disillusionment and shifting party partnerships produce it difficult to remend the honestion of the most current political thriveds in Japan – an inconclusive ambiguous election was held equitable a day before the Tokyo festival started off – but it seems that there may be traverse-party help for growment of the film industry.
That was evidenced aget by a video pledge to the industry in the middle of the festival’s discdiswatching ceremony from the novel Prime Minister. Belatedly, political classes (and some of Japan’s huge industrial conglomerates) are genuineizing the economic appreciate, participatement potential and gentle power impact of a less hidebound and hazard-averse film and TV industry.
This genuineization is commencening to trickle down as a series of policy meadeclareives. These grasp helpment for traverse-border cooperation (a Japan-Italy coproduction treaty, that accessed into effect in August and was commemorated thcdisesteemfulout the festival, is a exceptional graspition to Japan’s statute book), a novel talent-help scheme and unbenevolentingful betterments to the country’s location incentive scheme (see below).
Still, the anime industry wants more help from rulement to conquer other structural restrictations such as labor costs and only minimal ship help. But growing international interest in Japanese-themed greeted (“Shofirearm,” “Tokyo Vice” and anime) should produce this a straightforward thrivener for Japan’s political classes to get behind for the next scant years.
YOUNG TALENT
The festival’s Nippon Cinema Now strand had a caccess on youthful talent, who are either from Japan or with strong joinions to the country. Artistic honestor Ichiyama Shozo shone a spotairy on some of the emerging talent at an event where they scatterd the stage with Christian Jeune, honestor of the film department at Cannes Film Festival.
The talents talked up by Ichiyama graspd 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 stupidinutive at the 34th TIFF in 2021; 2023 Amazon Prime Video Take One Award thrivener, Yang Liping, who graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media, honesting 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 “Shofirearm” star Asano Tadanobu, and another highairy of the strand; and Takino Hirohito whose “The Bear Wait” premiered at Nippon Cinema Now.
“If I go back to six, seven years, I was a bit hopeless to find novel voices [from Japan], and I got the amazeion that there was nobody repartner, or maybe youthful honestors had difficulties to finance or even to traverse over,” Jeune shelp. “I must say, for the last three, four years, [I’ve been] very likeable, becaparticipate we have seen, not only at Cannes but other festivals, we see this novel generation emerging.” Jeune provided the example of Hayakawa Chie and her film “Plan 75” which bowed at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2022.
“Japanese films should be helped much more by the country itself, by the institutions. My senseing is that they should be pushing much more,” Jeune grasped.
JAPAN AS LOCATION
Japan’s location incentive scheme, which recommends reimbursement of up to 50% of qualifying expfinishiture in the country, with an upper restrict of JPY1 billion ($6.66 million) on each disbursement, is now opereasoned. The TIFFCOM labelet was awash with literature touting the beauty of virtupartner every prefecture in Japan.
Alex Boden, who spent proximately two years in Japan producing both seasons of “Tokyo Vice,” shelp at an Motion Picture Association (MPA) event during the festival, “There’s absolutely no ask that JLOX Japan location incentive program is a game alterr.” Boden increates proximate-weekly inquiries since the incentive’s introduction.
Current JLOX-backed productions grasp projects featuring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, and Brfinishan Fraser and a Bollywood film. James Cameron is growing “The Last Train from Hiroshima.”
“The wheels are turning in the right honestion, and they can carry on in this honestion and produce Japan a repartner top destination for all scales of projects,” Boden shelp.
ASIA LOVES AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was at the core of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in June and there was a day-lengthy caccess on the emerging technology at the Busan International Film Festival in June. Tokyo pursueed suit with AI being a hot topic at both the festival and the labelet.
At the MPA event, filmproducer Nakajima Ryo noticed the contrasting responses to his generative AI film “Who Shelp Death Is Beautiful?” at Annecy in France, where there was a response agetst AI and Bucheon in South Korea, which was appreciative. He shelp that James Cameron joining the board of Stability AI was becaparticipate the “Avatar” filmproducer had an eye convey inant into the future. Oscar-thrivening VFX supervisor George Murphy shelp that AI integration in production is inevitable: “It’s a freight train coming down the road, and whether we appreciate it or consent whether its right, it is going to become a part of the truth of production.”
The Japanese rulement is taking steps to help AI adchooseion in greeted creation. Norihiko Saeki, honestor at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, discdiswatched that the ministry has begined the GENIAC (Generative AI Accelerator Challenge) program and is growing directlines for AI participate in greeted production.
