“Snow Leopard, the last film made by Tibetan director Pema Tseden before his death in May, was awarded the Grand Prix at the closing ceremony of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday. The film, which premiered out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival and later screened in Toronto, follows a father and his adult son as they argue over how to deal with the titular beast that has come down from the mountains to kill sheep in their village.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize for second place was “Tatami”, a drama co-directed by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir about an Iranian judoka (Arienne Mandi) who is ordered by her government to withdraw from a match to avoid facing an Israeli opponent, and decides to obey the advice of her coach (Amir). Tatami, which premiered in Venice, is the first feature film co-directed by an Israeli (Nattiv) and an Iranian (Amir). The award for best actress in Tokyo went to Amir for her performance as the coach.
Meanwhile, Yasna Mirtahmasb was named best actor for his work in the Iranian film “Roxana”, playing an unemployed gambler who helps a woman after her car is broken into and accompanies her on her journey, to his eventual regret.
Chinese film “A Long Shot” won the artistic contribution award, while Japanese drama “(Ab)normal Desire” took the audience award. The film’s director, Kishi Yoshiyuki, was also honoured as best director.
In the Asian Future section, for films by up-and-coming Asian directors, the best film award went to “Maria”, a first feature by Iranian filmmaker Mahdi Asghari Azghadi.
As previously announced, the Kurosawa Akira Award for Emerging Filmmakers went to China’s Gu Xiaogang and Indonesia’s Mouly Surya, while the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Zhang Yimou, whose new period film Full River Red was screened in the Gala section.
Special sections included Shoulders of Giants, which celebrated the 120th anniversary of the birth of Yasujiro Ozu with screenings of 16 digitally restored films and a symposium on the late master’s work with directors Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Jia Zhangke and Kelly Reichardt. The festival also presented remakes of Ozu’s early silent films by six directors, including Director in Focus winner Hideo Jojo.
Held this year from 23 October to 1 November at venues in Tokyo’s central Hibiya and Yurakucho districts, the festival unfolded under mostly sunny skies, with the protocols and restrictions of the COVID-era editions completely lifted.
The favourable conditions were reflected in the attendance figures, with TIFF recording 78,841 admissions for 219 films. The figures for the previous edition were 59,541 and 174 respectively. The number of international attendees also increased from 104 last year to 2,000. Finally, the festival reported that 22.4% of the 219 films were directed by women.
