Tokyo Film Festival to Showcase Rising Arthouse Director Koji Fukada

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentVariety spoke with Kiyoshi Kurosawa the day after the world premiere of his World War II suspense drama “Wife of a Spy” in competition at the Venice Film Festival. A frequent invitee to Venice, Cannes and other major festivals, Kurosawa did the interview via Zoom from the Tokyo office of his Japanese distributor.

The Tokyo International Film Festival unveiled on Thursday the opening and closing films for its upcoming 33rd annual edition. The event, Japan's largest cinema occasion, will kick off on Oct.

Set in 1940 in Kobe, Japan, with an epilogue during the bombing of the city in 1945, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s intriguingly titled Wife of a Spy (Spy no Tsuma) bookends the Second World War in an absorbing, exotic, well-paced thriller with moments of disconcerting realism and horror. Its spot in Venice competition is a well-earned promotion for the director after his many accolades for films like Kairo, Tokyo Sonata and Before We Vanish.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Tokyo International Film Festival has set boxing picture “Underdog,” directed by Take Masaharu, as the opening title for its 33rd edition. The festival will run Oct.

Ed Meza @edmezavarJapanese filmmaker Tomoko Kana is revisiting the legacy of nuclear catastrophe in a new feature film project that brings together survivors of Fukushima and Chernobyl.Kana and producer Mari Mukai are looking for primarily German partners for the project, which they presented at this year’s Venice Gap-Financing Market and which will shoot to a large extent in Germany.“A Picture Book” is a very personal project for Kana that reflects her own experiences, according to Mukai,

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTIFFCOM, the film rights market that accompanies the Tokyo International Film Festival, is to be held entirely in virtual or online form this year.Market organizers announced the change on Monday. The market will keep its previously announced dates Nov.

Prince Harry features in a new clip promoting the Netflix documentary “Rising Phoenix”.

Cate Blanchett is encouraging the reemergence of the film industry amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as the Jury President of the Venice Film Festival, the Hollywood actress is thrilled to be present for the annual event and she couldn’t be more proud to support and help filmmakers share their work after the worldwide health crisis has affected the film industry in a major way.The Oscar winner urges for a safe reopening of cinema gatherings, and congratulates the effort and organization of

Andreas Wiseman International EditorAfter more than six month of struggle for the film industry, this morning saw the first major movie event return as Venice staged its first press screenings for opening film Lacci and Greek drama Apples.What a difference a year makes. Last year’s screenings of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth were largely full.

When the Japanese Imperial Army laid siege to an innocuous warehouse in 1937’s Battle of Shanghai, the skirmish ultimately became a flashpoint that galvanized a nation. China lost that battle but won the war, and the resistance of the Eight Hundred Heroes earned the legendary status it retains to this day.

Janet W. Lee In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Amy Hill packed her bags in Hollywood and returned home to her family in Hawaii, thinking she would quarantine there.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentRussian World War II drama “Saving Leningrad” has sold to several major territories, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and China.The film was sold to Capelight for Germany and the U.S., Signature Entertainment for the U.K., Kinovista in France, New Select in Japan, iQIYI in China, Super Vision Trading in Taiwan, W&W Investments Holding in Poland, Eagle Pictures in Italy, Studio Show Entertainment in Sweden, and

Prince Harry has officially made his Netflix debut. The Duke of Sussex made a special appearance in a new documentary about one of his most passionate causes.

Prince Harry is fully behind Netflix’s new documentary “Rising Phoenix”.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterSong Kang-ho, the star of Oscar sensation Parasite and the 2013 feature Snowpiercer, will lead the cast of Korean feature Broker. The film marks the Korean directing debut of Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose previous credits include the Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nomianted 2018 drama Shoplifters.Also starring in Broker will be Gang Dong-won and Bae Doona.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Tokyo International Film Festival will shine a spotlight on the work of internationally-acclaimed Japanese director Koji Fukada during its 33rd edition. The festival will be held in front of live audiences Oct.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticFour days feels like an eternity in “The Eight Hundred,” mainland Chinese writer-director Guan Hu’s monumental, if sometimes unwieldy epic interpretation of the courageous defense of a warehouse by the Chinese Nationalist Army in October 1937. For those with little knowledge of the Sino-Japanese War, the bombardment of facts, action and characters in the 147-minute film can be too much to take in at one go.

The Venice Film Festival, the first major in-person cinema showcase of the COVID-19 era, is requiring participants to wear face masks during screenings and take a coronavirus test if they are arriving from outside Europe. According to guidelines published Thursday, fans and the general public will be kept away from the red carpet during the Sept.