The 26th Tokyo International Film Festival has come to an end with the announcement of the various prize winners. It’s been a fabulous event, with an astonishingly good selection of films on offer. A total of 35,139 people saw 97 films across 303 screenings. The winners, in their various categories are as follows,
Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix
We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!) Director Lukas Moodysson – Sweden
Special Jury Prize
Bending the Rules (Ghaedeye Tasadof) Director Behnam Behzadi – Iran
Award for Best Director
Benedikt Erlingsson for Of Horses and Men (Hross í oss) – Iceland
Award for Best Actress
Eugene Domingo for Barber’s Tales (Mga Kuwentong Barbero)” – Phillipines
Award for Best Actor
Wang Jingchun for To Live and Die in Ordos [警察日记] – China
Award for Best Artistic Contribution
The Empty Hours (Las horas muertas) Director Aarón Fernández Mexico/France/Spain
Audience Award
Red Family [ 붉은 가족 ] Director Lee Ju-hyoung – South Korea
Best Asian Future Film Award
Today and Tomorrow (今天明天 ) Director Yang Huilong – China
Asian Future, Special Mention
The Tale of Iya Director Tetsuichiro Tsuta – Japan
Japanese Cinema Splash Best Picture Award
Forma Director Ayumi Sakamoto – Japan
I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity to see many of these films and for the excellent work by the festival organisers. Sadly, for family reasons I had to cut my time in Tokyo short and missed a few of the awarded films. All the winners I saw were excellent and all those I missed were on my to watch list. I’m particularly pleased to see Bending The Rules, Of Horse and Men, The Empty Hours and Forma being recognised. You can see all the Tokyo International Film Festival screenings reviewed for The Society below.
Au Revoir l’ été (Hotori no Sakuko)
Behind The Candelabra
Bending The Rules (Ghaedeye tasadof)
Beyond The Memories (Kiyoku Yawaku 潔く柔く)
Captain Phillips (Festival Opening Film)
Drinking Buddies
Forma
Of Horses And Men (Hross í oss)
Parkland
Rigor Mortis
The Bling Ring
The Empty Hours (Las Horas Muertas)
To Live And Die In Ordos (Jingcha Riji)
And, it goes without saying we have already started planning for the next year’s Tokyo International Film Festival!
