26 Films you cannot miss at the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival (Part 2)

By Asian Film Festival on October 22, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

These are twenty-six films you cannot miss at the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival which will take place from October 25th – November 3rd, in Tokyo, Japan.

Respeto by Treb Monteras II – Philippines | 2017 – 99 min.
Section: CROSSCUT ASIA

Here’s a film reminding us that true hip-hop is political. In this era of extrajudicial killings under the reign of the current president, Duterte, young Hendrix sets his sights on underground rap battles in the slums of Pandacan, Manila. But his true enemies don’t have ears for his words. (Kaohsiung Film Festival)

Trailer:

River’s Edge by Isao Yukisada – Japan | 2018 – 118 min.
Section: Japan Now

The shocking comic by Kyoko Okazaki portraying the desires and frustrations of youth comes to the silver screen. Opened Panorama Section at Berlinale 2018 and won the FIPRESCI award.

Schedule:
October 31st | Wednesday | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills SCREEN 1 | 17:45 pm (Sold Out)

Trailer:

Saimon & Tada Takashi by Manabu Oda – Japan | 2017 – 84 min.
Section: Japan Now

Two high school boys deal with unrequited love in an unconventional film that meshes reality and fantasy, with flashes of sci-fi and hand-drawn anime.

Schedule:
November 1st | Thursday | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills SCREEN 1 | 10:10 am

Trailer:

Sea by Kensei Takahashi – Japan | 2018 – 80 min.
Section: Japanese Cinema Splash

A high school boy witnesses his classmates assaulting a young girl, and endures 12 years of anguish for his inability to intervene.

Trailer:

Season of the Devil (Ang Panahon ng Halimaw) by Lav Diaz
Philippines | 2018 – 234 min.
Section: CROSSCUT ASIA

A Filipino rock opera with music and lyrics by Lav Diaz, set in the darkest period of Philippine history, the Marcos dictatorship.

Trailer:

Shoplifters by Kore-eda Hirokazu – Japan | 2018 – 120 min.
Section: Japan Now

The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes by Japanese master Kore-eda Hirokazu about the bond of the family tied by the crimes.

Schedule:
October 31st | Wednesday | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills SCREEN 1 | 10:25 am (Sold Out)

Trailer:

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine by Takahisa Zeze
Japan | 2018 – 189 min.
Section: Japan Now

This historical epic from Takahisa Zeze focuses on passionate youth who are struggling to break free of their brutal lives through woman sumo and anarchism in the early 1920s.

Schedule:
November 1st | Thursday | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills SCREEN 1 | 19:30 pm (Few Seats Left)

Trailer:

The Eel by Shohei Imamura – Japan | 1997 – 117 min.
Section: Japan Now

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 50th Cannes Film Festival. Koji Yakusho plays Takuro, who has just started a new life as a barber after spending years in prison for killing his wife.

Schedule:
October 27th | Saturday | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills SCREEN 9 | 17:15 pm (Few Seats Left)

Trailer:

The Poet by Liu Hao – China | 2018 – 123 min.
Section: Competition

A poet working in a mine and his doting wife dream of a better future, but on a visit to the mine, a famed poet exerts a subtle effect on the couple. This drama eloquently depicts the love-hate relationship between people in changing times.

Trailer:

Then Years Thailand by Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan | 2017 – 93 min.
Section: World Focus

Ten Years Thailand is an omnibus film inviting four directors from Thailand to imagine their country a decade from now.

Three Husbands by Fruit Chan – Hong Kong | 2018 – 101 min.
Section: Competition

A wondrous prostitute plies her trade while living on a boat in Hong Kong. With a superhuman libido and three loving husbands, she doggedly devotes herself to her work. Using sex to satirize the era, this film brims with intense desire.

Schedule:
October 26th | Friday | EX Theater Roppongi – 21:15 pm (Few Seats Left)
October 28th | Sunday | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills SCREEN 2 – 20:40 pm (Sold Out)

Trailer:

Tracey by Jun Li – Hong Kong | 2018 – 119 min.
Section: Asian Future

Tai-hung, in his 50s, lives happily with his wife. Informed of the death of his high school friend, Tai-hung’s secret past resurfaces. The feature debut from promising new Hong Kong talent Jun Li.

Trailer:

Wushu Orphan by Huang Huang – China | 2018 – 121 min.
Section: Asian Future

Inland China in the late 90s. A new Chinese teacher is at first overwhelmed by the junior high school’s focus on martial arts. Upon getting used to it, his main concern is a student who repeatedly tries to run away.

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