Psychological thriller The Beasts, directed by Spain’s Rodrigo Sorogoyen, won three awards at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival, including the Tokyo Grand Prix, best director and best actor for Denis Menochet.
The film, which premiered in an Out Of Competition slot at this year’s Cannes film festival, follows a French couple who move to Spain’s Galician countryside to run an organic farm, but receive a hostile welcome from the locals. The Tokyo Grand Prix comes with a cash award of Y3M (US$20,400).
Iranian filmmaker Houman Seyedi’s satirical drama World War III took the Special Jury Prize at the festival following its wins in Venice for best film and best actor in the Horizons section. Tokyo’s Special Jury Prize comes with a cash award of Y500,000 (US$3,400).
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Best actress went to Aline Kuppenheim for her role in Manuela Martelli’s 1976, in which she plays a woman sheltering a man during Chile’s Pinochet dictatorship. The best artistic contribution award went to Sri Lankan film Peacock Lament, directed by Sanjeewa Pushpakumara.
The festival’s audience award went to Rikiya Imaizumi’s By The Window, about a man confronted by his wife’s affair, which was one of three Japanese films to be selected for the international competition.
In the festival’s Asian Future competition, the best film award went to Butterflies Live Only One Day, directed by Iranian filmmaker Mohammadreza Vatandoust, who was on hand to accept the award in person.
Tokyo film festival ran October 24 to November 2 at venues in the Ginza, Hibiya, Marunouchi and Yurakucho districts of the city. Festival organisers said admissions nearly doubled from last year’s edition, reaching 59,541, while the number of international guests increased to 104 from just eight last year, as Japan has dropped most of its Covid travel restrictions.
TIFF chairman Ando Hiroyasu and UK producer Stephen Woolley presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to screenwriter and script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, who worked with Akira Kurosawa on most of his films. Woolley recently produced Living, a reimagining of Kurosawa’s Ikiru, which played as Tokyo’s closing film.
In a surprise announcement, the jury of the Amazon Prime Video Take One Award for short films said they had decided against anointing a winner. “Each piece has its merit, but many didn’t connect with the world. None of the works took imaginative leaps. Although they might not be worthy of an award, I hope these finalists will someday be recognized,” said jury president Isao Yukisada at the closing ceremony.
He continued: “It’s not the case that nothing was worthy, there were works that showed a promising future, and I would like to mention Yo Enen’s The Refrigerator Thief, which had a certain spark. But there was a clear difference in ability between last year’s and this year’s directors. Amazon Studios should work with creators who have listened to harsh opinions, and we hope that this result will lead to a winner of the award next year.”
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