Tokyo Film Festival Unveils Competition Line-Up With World Premieres From Rithy Panh, Amos Gitai, Chong Keat Aun & Zhang Lu

Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF, October 27-November 5) has unveiled its full line-up, including its main competition section, with world premieres from leading filmmakers such as Rithy Panh, Amos Gitai, Chong Keat Aun and Zhang Lu.

Cambodia’s Rithy Panh will be bringing his documentary We Are The Fruits Of The Forest, about ethnic minorities in northern Cambodia, to the festival, while Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai will premiere Golem In Pompei, which documents his play held at a theatre in the ancient city of Pompei, combined with fictional sequences.

Chong Keat Aun’s Mother Bhumi stars Fan Bingbing as a woman in a Malaysian village in the 1990s uncovering the truth behind her husband’s death, while Zhang Lu, fresh from winning Busan’s Best Film Award for Gloaming In Luomu, is premiering Mothertongue, also starring Bai Baihe, in Tokyo. Bai plays a struggling actress returning to her hometown in Sichuan in Zhang’s new film.

Other world premieres in the competition line-up include Blonde, about a teacher caught up in a scandal, directed by Japanese filmmaker Yuichiro Sakashita; Chinese director Peng Fei’s Take Off, about a Chinese worker obsessed with building a self-flying machine; and family drama Maria Vitoria from Portugal’s Mario Patrocinio.

Films receiving their Asian Premiere at the festival include Morte Cucina from Thailand’s Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Hungarian filmmaker Gyorgy Palfi’s Hen and Annemarie Jacir’s historical drama Palestine 36 (see full line-up below).

TIFF also announced the 11 films that will receive their world premieres in the Asian Future section for first, second and third films from across Asia and the Middle East (see full line-up below).

As previously announced, Junji Sakamoto’s Climbing For Life, a biopic of Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, will play as the opening film of the festival, while Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet will screen as the closing film. Yoji Yamada’s Tokyo Taxi has been set as the Centrepiece screening.

Gala screenings include Ari Aster’s Eddington, Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere; Juno Mak’s Sons Of The Neon Night; Lim Dae-hee’s Holy Night: Demon Hunters, starring Don Lee, and Hikari’s Rental Family, among other titles. Several Japanese films will also receive Gala screenings including Koji Fukada’s Love On Trial, Kasho Iizuka’s Blue Boy Trial and Yuichiro Sakashita’s Can’t Cry With Your Face.

Nippon Cinema Now will screen a mix of world premieres and recent festival hits such as Yukari Sakamoto’s White Flowers And Fruits and Akio Fujimoto’s Lost Land. Other major sections at the festival include TIFF Series, World Focus, Women’s Empowerment, Youth, Animation and Japanese Classics.

Among masterclasses and other events, the festival is again hosting a series of TIFF Lounge discussions between leading filmmakers, including a session with Yoji Yamada and Kokuho director Lee Sang-il, while Hong Kong filmmaker Soi Cheang will deliver a masterclass.

Tokyo has also launched a new section, Asian Students’ Film Conference, a competition for live-action and animated films under 60 minutes recommended by film schools from across Asia, including titles awarded at Cannes and other festivals. Backed by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, this section will screen 15 films showcasing emerging Asian talent during the festival.

TOKYO 2025 MAIN COMPETITION:

Atropia (US), dir: Hailey Gates AP Blonde (Japan), dir: Sakashita Yuichiro WP Echoes Of Motherhood (Japan), dir: Nakagawa Ryutaro Golem In Pompei (France), dir: Amos Gitai WP Heads Or Tails? (Italy, US), dir: Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis AP Hen (Greece, German, Hungary), dir: György Pálfi AP Maria Vitoria (Portugal), dir: Mário Patrocínio WP Morte Cucina (Thailand), dir: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang AP Mother (Belgium, North Macedonia), dir: Teona Strugar Mitevska AP Mother Bhumi (Malaysia), dir: Chong Keat Aun WP Mothertongue (China), dir: Zhang Lu WP Palestine 36 (Palestine, UK, France, Denmar), dir: Annemarie Jacir AP Sermon To The Void (Azerbaijan, Mexico, Turkey), dir: Hilal Baydarov AP Take Off (China), dir: Pengfei WP We Are The Fruits Of The Forest (Cambodia, France), dir: Rithy Panh WP ASIAN FUTURE: [All Word Premieres]