TOKYO, Oct 27 — The five members of the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) Competition jury will have a tough time picking a winner out of this year’s diversified competition submissions.
Presided over by the outspoken American actor-director Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black), the 71-year-old explained that his team of film experts would be looking at films that are finely crafted and those that are able to make a lasting impression on the jury.
Representing Malaysia is filmmaker Edmund Yeo, whose film AQÉRAT (We the Dead) will be competing with 14 other titles from around the world.
Starring Howard Hon Kahoe and Daphne Low, the youth drama follows the poetic journey of a woman who turns to human trafficking to make ends meet. It also sheds light on the Rohingyas’ flight to Malaysia to avoid persecution.
Having made his debut at TIFF in 2014 with his film River of Exploding Durians, this year Yeo also has another film screening at the festival called Yasmin-san a documentary shown under the Crosscut Asia section presented by the Japan Foundation Asia Centre.
The 15 films in the main competition were selected out of 1,538 titles from 88 countries and regions. Other members of the highly esteemed jury are Iranian director-writer-producer Reza Mirkarimi, popular Chinese actress-director Zhao Wei, Masatoshi Nagase, one of Japan’s handful of internationally known actors, and French director Martin Provost.
“We have five different points of view that are the same. We’re all expecting good film craft. All the things that make a film coherent are what we live for, along with the human factor. I think we all have a deep, sincere interest in the commonality of human intellectual and emotional life,” said Jones when asked on the judging criteria of the jury.
The Competition jury of five international cineastes will be judging to award the Tokyo Grand Prix, Special Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Artistic Contribution and Best Screenplay Award.
The winners will be announced at the Closing Ceremony on November 3, 2017. — CinemaOnline
