KYOTO – Kyoto International Film and Art Festival (KIFF) announced on Sept. 4 their event outline for this year’s festival at a press conference held at Yoshimoto Gion Kagetsu Hall.
The event opened with a speech from Kyoto City Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa.
“Kyoto is called the Asian Hollywood because of the creative industry in Kyoto. Movie is a total art and it is supported by both the government and the spirit and imaginative power that Kyoto embodies,” he noted.
Over 70 films will be screened with the world premiere of “Tajuro Junaiki” by legendary Kyoto filmmaker Sadao Nakajima and a retrospective of the renowned auteur Kinji Fukasaku leading the way.
“There is happy and sad news at KIFF. The happy announcement is my newest movie will have a world premier screening in KIFF. But sadly, Masahiko Tsugawa, who was the judge of the Makino Award from the first year, has passed away. The festival will overcome this great loss with your support,” Nakajima said.
This is Nakajima’s first film in 20 years and promises to be an exciting chambara (sword-fighting) epic.
Also present at the press conference were Chairman of the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival Executive Committee Ichiya Nakamura and Head Producer Kazuyoshi Okuyama.
Two key prizes will be awarded during the opening ceremony on Oct. 11: the Shozo Makino Award, which will be presented to filmmakers who contributed to the development of Japanese cinema, and the Toshiro Mifune Award, which will be given to the actor who is most likely to make international impact in film.
Other announcements include the retrospective of four Kazuo Miyagawa films, the addition of the Silent & Classic film section that will feature 25 works over eight programs and the screening of the original animated flick “Violence Voyager” by auteur Ujicha, which won the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Buenos Aires Festival International Independent Film Festival and the Audience Award at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival. A program called Workshop Collection will also be held to encourage children’s creativity.
Moreover, Yoshimoto Kogyo, which produces the festival, will once again put on many events around the UN program of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aims to create a more livable, sustainable world for everyone.
The 5thedition of KIFF will be held from Oct. 11-14 with the theme “Film, Art and Everything Else.” This year’s tagline is “Kyoto, Now Showing.”
