<p>Tokyo International Film Festival - save the dates!</p>
Tokyo International Film Festival - save the dates! (Photo: Uni Japan)

28th Tokyo International Film Festival

Japan's biggest film fest back for its 28th iteration

Tokyo International Film Festival - save the dates! (Photo: Uni Japan)
Jerome Lee   - 2 min read

Film buffs can rejoice, for the 28th iteration of the Tokyo International Film Festival is back - bigger and better than ever!

Held from 22nd October - 31st October 2015, the festival showcases a myriad of foreign films that would not see the light of day in Japan other than at such a prestigious festival. Opening the festival is 'The Walk' by legendary filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future and Forrest Gump), while the closing film is “Kishuten Eki Taminaru” (“Terminal”), featuring megastar Koichi Sato.

Recent films such as 'Everest', a movie based on the true account of accidents that happened during a 1996 expedition up Mount Everest, will be screened, while the Japan Now section will showcase ten local Japanese films that were screened during the past year. A myriad of films of France, Japan, China, Czech Republic, etc. will be judged under the Competition section, with notable judges such as Bryan Singer (X-Men) and French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung (Norwegian Wood).

New additions to the 2015 run sees a selection of movies starring the legendary Japanese actor Ken Takakura, and also an all-night screening of Japanese horror films, just in time for Halloween. The festival's pop-up restaurant, the Tokyo Cinema Cuisine, will offer dishes from five renowned chefs.

Last year's iteration of the festival saw expanded screenings and venues, which drew a total of 223,912 people - a sizeable 84% more than 2013! It will be interesting to see how this year's festival will hold up against 2014's.

Jerome Lee

Jerome Lee @jerome.lee

Singaporean who lived in Melbourne, Australia for 3 years, and undertook a journalism degree. A lover of soul, funk music (Motown especially), and many other forms of music. Love meeting new people, and creative things (art, fashion, photography, design, films...). Currently working at JapanTrave...