Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) extends its most sincere sympathy to all who have suffered from the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami took place on March 11, 2011.

All staff of TIFF sincerely wishes that your safety will be restored quickly and your area will recover as soon as possible.

Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

How did you feel joining the Tokyo International Film Festival?

"I'm very honored to have my film being picked at the film festival. We felt very good here, your staff has treated us very well. Some of my crew came to Tokyo for a first time and they felt like they were treated like kings. Your hospitality team treated us very well with lots of hospitality. We had a great time and of course we are very happy to be able to get an award, the Best Actor's Award and we also hope to get a distribution rights here in Japan. So that more people can see the film and enjoy it."

How did it feel to walk on the Green Carpet?

"Of course it is an honor and it's exciting and it's different because it is green. I purposely picked the red dress. I never pick a red dress for red carpet. But I picked a red dress for Green Carpet so it stands out. It's a lot of fun. We had a great time."

How did you feel about the TIFF'S Q&A session?

"Q&A session of the screenings are excellent Because it gets an instant response from the audience. We spent months making this film, sitting in the studios and editing. We don't see people. We don't show the film to the people. This film is an Asian Premiere and it's the first time the Asian audience has a chance to see the film. We are excited and nervous. We don't know whether people would laugh or whether people would cry or how they would actually feel about it. Because we are so numb about it already. So it's great to have a direct interaction with them after the movie. They tell us how they feel. They tell us what they like. And that's very important, I think and I really like it!"




“The Piano in a Factory”


Relaying comments:
Part 1:Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)
Part 2:Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)
Part 3:Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)
Part 4:Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)
Part 5:Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)
Part 6:Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)

How was it like to participate in TIFF?

"The Film Festival was managed in an orderly manner and I was able to spend my time here comfortably. "

How did it feel to walk on the Green Carpet?

"The green was a good idea. It was refreshing because it was a first time for me to walk on the Green Carpet. This was also the first time for me to participate in the Film Festival too. I enjoyed it so much that I walked rather slowly on the carpet. I assume you’re going to use the Green Carpet next year again. I thought it was good because the color green makes you imagine of the nature. It also makes you imagine of the eco-car so that was good too. I think it is good to manage TIFF with this slogan too. "




“The Piano in a Factory”


Relaying comments:
Part 1:Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)
Part 2:Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)
Part 3:Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)
Part 4:Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)
Part 5:Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)
Part 6:Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

Relaying comments: Reflections on 23rd TIFF (Part 4)

Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)

Matteo Botrugno (Botrugno): Real Japanese organization! In Italy, things do not work like that. You can’t find such organization in Italy. You can watch a good movies and the festival is OK, but not as organized as Japanese one. It’s a right way to organize a festival especially such a big one.

Daniele Coluccini (Coluccini): We think Tokyo International Film Festival is incredible for us. We’ve been to Venice Film Festival but here is very different and everything is bigger and organized.

Botrugno: Walking on the Green Carpet was great, very much fun.

Coluccini: I like the way the festival treat the ecology because no one does it.

Botrugno: It’s not about the festival, about environment. And environment is around the festival. For this reason, there are a lot of respects for the environment so not only words but also I think substantial.

Coluccini: We have shot a short film, a very stupid short film for private. It’s impossible to find it and the title is secret. We shot with a Japanese friend of us who is an Opera singer. In one of a scene in the film, she talks on a telephone, and says something like ‘Moshi Moshi, Genki? (Hello, how are you?)’ and ‘Shinjirarenai! (Unbelievable!)’ That’s how we learn a few Japanese words.

Botrugno: For me and for us, It’s shinnjirarenai (unbelievable) to be here. Arigato gozaimasu!　(Thank you!) It’s our last night unfortunately.

Coluccini: We would like to stay here forever.

Botrugno&Coluccini: But we’ll come back soon!





Interview with Matteo Botrugno (Director) & Daniele Coluccini (Director)

『And Peace on Earth』


Relaying comments:
Part 1:Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)
Part 2:Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)
Part 3:Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)
Part 4:Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)
Part 5:Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)
Part 6:Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

Call for Entries 2011
Entry forms will be available in late April.
We look forward to your submission!!!



Outline
Name: The 24th Tokyo International Film Festival
Date : October 22 (Sat) - October 30 (Sun), 2011

Relaying comments: Reflections on 23rd TIFF (Part 3)

Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)

“It is my first time to visit Tokyo and I spent time to look around Tokyo. Then I haven’t seen any other films in the festival. So I don’t know how the other films are. But I can say that the festival was very well organized. Definitely! Regarding to the films I don’t know. I only know mine. I have no idea about a level of other films but I suppose they’re good because the films took some prizes and must be something above us. However (because we could come here) the festival itself was like our prize.”

Also Sinisa Dragin mentioned about Q&A which allows him to communicate with audiences directly as well as the TIFF’s Green Carpet.
“To receive a good answer, people must throw a right question. There were a few nice questions which allowed us to explain the way I made the film, my intentions, and troubles during the shooting. (Green Carpet and the theme of Ecology is) a very good idea. Myself, I am an ecologist. I agree with all things TIFF does regarding to the green and nature. I found it is very close to my soul.”



“If the Seed Doesn't Die”

Relaying comments:
Part 1:Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)
Part 2:Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)
Part 3:Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)
Part 4:Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)
Part 5:Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)
Part 6:Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

Relaying comments: Reflections on 23rd TIFF (Part 2)

Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)

“The festival was great! I enjoyed a lot. And I’m so happy to be here, with my first feature film. Because my flight got cancelled and I was late to come here, you know. Even this trouble, people here were so nice to me. Yeah, it was fantastic. Also Q&A session (opportunities to directly communicate with audience) was a good. Good experience too, to hear the direct voice of audience.”

Also Shawn Ku mentioned about carrying this experiences at the TIFF to the future filmmaking; “Oh, I don’t know about next yet, but of course yes. And if I can, I would like to come back to TIFF.”


Q&A
Press Conference
Interview with Shawn Ku

“Beautiful Boy”

Relaying comments:
Part 1:Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)
Part 2:Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)
Part 3:Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)
Part 4:Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)
Part 5:Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)
Part 6:Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

Relaying comments: Reflections on 23rd TIFF (Part 1)

Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)

"The film festival was absolutely amazing. And of course I’m so happy to receive those awards. Receiving the audience award has a really big meaning of it for me. And the festival was very organized. It was also amazing. The people are so nice too. I really want to thank all the people from the festival, especially young people, you know, who has to deal with us all day, travelling us in the city and stuff, they did a great job. Or people who were working behind the scene and even some of them are unpaid. I just want thank you all of them. Also I would like to thank to the Chairman, Yoda."

Also the director commented on the Green Carpet and Theme of "Ecology" as follow;
"Yeah, I think it is a good idea. It’s very distinctive, and very different from other festival, you know. No other festival does this kind of thing. It differentiates from others. And of course good for environment."



Sarah's Key

Relaying comments:
Part 1:Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Director/Script “Sarah's Key”)
Part 2:Shawn Ku (Director/Script “Beautiful Boy”)
Part 3:Sinisa Dragin (Director/Producer/Editor “If the Seed Doesn't Die”)
Part 4:Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini (Director/Screenplay “And Peace on Earth”)
Part 5:Zhang Meng (Director/Screenplay “The Piano in a Factory”)
Part 6:Jessica Kam (Producer “The Piano in a Factory”)

The 24th Tokyo International Film Festival

Outline

Name  The 24th Tokyo International Film Festival

Date    October 22 (Sat) - October 30 (Sun), 2011

Mr. Neil Jordan (the director) who performed the role of the President of Jury for the Competition Section which is a glamour of the Tokyo International Film Festival. This would be his second visit since the screening of his film, “The Company of the Wolves”
at the 1st Tokyo International Film Festival and this time assuming an important responsibility of the President of Jury. He shows the grin of embarrassment as he turns around and says, “Yeah it’s a hard work!” He showed the glimpse of unwavering confidence, after emphasizing the fact that they’ve carried out the thorough debate in choosing the “Intimate Grammar” as Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix Winner.


Q: Please let us know your impression of serving the President of the Jury for the International Film Festival?

NJ: I never really thought of entering my films in the film festival circuit . I’ve always been just too busy to explore the idea. I’ve worked in Hollywood big movies and worked in the small budget movies as well. Some of the small movies I made became very popular and some didn’t. But I’m not a kind of director that has lived through the film festivals, do you understand? This is why when you asked me to be the chairman of the Tokyo International Film Festival, I contemplated on it and answered yes. I’ wanted to do this because I wanted to spend some time at the film festival and what place is better than the Tokyo International Film Festival. I was here back in 1985 with my film called “The Company of the Wolves.” I’ve been here in Tokyo again but I haven’t been here in the film festival since then. It’s really been a hard work!

Q: Was there any particular focus, any criteria or specific theme that emerged in the movies for judging the 15 films from the Competition Section?

NJ: From the 98 years old Kaneto Shindo, who directed many films in the past to the two young Italian directors, (Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini) who have made their first feature film for the first time. What to me that was very heart warming was the scope of the directors on the display at the Competition Section, you know. There were extraordinary scopes to the films that we viewed for judging..

Q: During the nine days of the film festival, were there lot of times where actually the jury members would get together and exchange notes or opinions？

There were many, times we’ve spent together for lunch and dinner that it was difficult for me to find out if we were judging the cuisine or the movies. We were trying to refresh after every three or four films so to make sure that nothing is going to be over-looked.

Q: Did the selection of the award-winning film go well?

We watched 15 movies and after having seeing all the 15, it was very clear that four or five films really did have an impact on us. Some of the films only had an impact on one or two jury members, but the other four or five films actually did give all of the jury members an impact which was based on the film’s strength of the performance and sensibility of the directors. There were three movies which were so strong that we needed to discuss about it. That was very hard for me because I’m a film maker and there were two other film makers (Hur Jin-ho and Kichitaro Negishi) who were also in the jury as well, I was looking at these films and realized that the other people watched my movies with the same critical eyes, such as, “I loved it up to here but why did the film become weak from the later half?”

Q: With all the discussions you must have all had, what was the decisive reason to make “Intimate Grammar” the Sakura Grand Prix Winner?

I have not seen the Nir Bergman’s (director) work before. I was so much in admiration for the director’s natural talent. I was watching the film as it was going forward, I was thinking when this film would start go wrong. And I was kind of trying to keep this strength of storytelling up.. In the last third of the way, the film got little weak. I thought that the strength of the film was going to get lost. But then suddenly there was an ending to it. So I just had to make a say in the end whether which of the film was greatest of all, a really good film, which was the most completely realized piece of work. Perhaps other film would have been more successful with the audience in general. But I thought that in terms of the realization this was the best one.
　
Q: You mentioned that when you were 16, you saw Mr. Kaneto Shindo’s film and this had a great impact on you, is that right?

I saw the film, “Onibaba” and “Lost Sex” in the theater in Dublin. There were quite an impact watching these films.

Q: It must have been a pleasant surprise and a good expectation for you to realize that one of the film in the Competition Section was the work by Mr.Kaneto Shindo’s.?

Yes. Delightful. But I was very anxious if I would like the film, do you understand? That the film would rise to it’s expectations. And it did. It was a very beautiful film. Mr. Shindo and I had an opportunity to speak briefly on the stage.

Q: Now that you’ve actually finished the very big role for the Tokyo International Film Festival as a President of Jury, do you think this experience that you‘ve had here in Japan would become a good influence for you, for something such as your future project?

Yeah, certainly, it definitely made me more critical of my own work. Next time when I finish the script, I’ll examine it like I’m all the five members of Jury.

We heard that you are currently editing your new film. When it is completed, we hope you would be able to screen it at the Tokyo International Film Festival next year.

I HOPE SO!

With fatigue and relief of being able to fulfill the heavy responsibility, Mr. Jordan revealed an expression of accomplishment.