20 Films you shouldn’t miss at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival (Part 2)

By Asian Film Festival on October 15, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

We continue with our list of films you shouldn’t miss at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival which will take place from October 31st until November 9th, in Tokyo, Japan.

About the festival:
The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), the only Japanese ﬁlm festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). TIFF started in 1985 as Japan’s ﬁrst major ﬁlm festival. Since then, it has grown to become one of the biggest ﬁlm festivals in Asia. TIFF seeks out excellent ﬁlms from around the world and brings them to Tokyo, where ﬁlmmakers and ﬁlm fans can enjoy them, meet emerging ﬁlmmakers, and be inspired.

Selected Films:

**It’s a summer film** by Soushi Matsumoto – Japan | 2020 – 97 minutes
**Section**: Special Screening

From Naoyuki Miura of the theater troup Lolo and visual director Soushi Matsumoto. A SF coming-of-age film about three highschool girls obsessed with Japanese period drama, a mysterious boy, and a group of friends full of humor! (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 2nd, 2020 (Monday) – TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 2 | 16:30 pm

Trailer:

**Malu** by Edmund Yeo – Malaysia, Japan | 2020 – 112 minutes
**Section**: Tokyo Premiere 2020

Mysterious poetic story of long-lasting discord between beautiful sisters unfolds in Malaysia and Japan. TIFF 2017 Best Director winner presents a Japan-Malaysia co-production, starring Masatoshi Nagase and Kiko Mizuhara. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 5th, 2020 (Thursday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 7 | 20:10 pm
November 8th, 2020 (Sunday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 9 | 20:35 pm

Trailer:

**Mekong 2030** by Sotho Kulikar, Anysay Keola, Sai Naw Kham, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Pham Ngoc Lan – Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam | 2020 – 93 minutes – **Section**: World Focus

Mekong 2030 is a film anthology, comprising five stories that envision the future of the Mekong River from different cultural perspectives. (TIFF 2020)

Trailer:

**One in a Hundred Thousand** by Koichiro Miki – Japan | 2020 – 112 minutes
**Section**: Special Screenings

Starring Alan Shirahama and Yuna Taira, the live-action adaption of the “most tear- jerking romance manga” which sold over 1.2 million copies. During a time when we’ve come to reexamine what is truly important, this is an emotionally-stirring, pure love story which gives us strength to face whatever obstacle may come our way. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 5th, 2020 (Thursday) | EX Theater Roppongi | 11:05 am

Trailer:

**Ora, Ora, Be Goin’ Alone** by Shuichi Okita – Japan | 2020 – 138 minutes
**Section**: Special Screenings

Director Shuichi Okita’s movie adaptation of the Akutagawa and Bungei Literary Prize-winning novel. A story about the 75-year-old Momoko’s “evolution” from loneliness to absolute freedom. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 3rd, 2020 (Tuesday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 7 | 12:00 pm

Trailer:

**Peninsula** by Yeon Sang-ho – South Korea | 2020 – 116 minutes
**Section**: Special Screenings

Peninsula takes place four years after the outbreak in Train to Busan. Jung-seok, a former soldier who has managed to escape overseas, is given a mission to go back and meets survivors. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
October 31st, 2020 (Saturday) | EX Theater Roppongi | 20:15 pm

Trailer:

**Runway** by Norichika Oba – Japan | 2020 – 120 minutes
**Section**: Special Screenings

A film adaptation of the posthumous best-selling tanka poetry collection by Shinichiro Hagihara, who suddenly ended his own life. Portraying non-regular employment, bullying, suffering and hope in contemporary society. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 3rd, 2020 (Tuesday) | EX Theater Roppongi | 19:35 pm

Trailer:

**Sasaki in my mind** by Takuya Uchiyama – Japan | 2020 – 118 minutes
**Section**: Tokyo Premiere 2020

The story of a would-be actor, his larger-than-life classmate and their friends. Unfolding their past and present, Sasaki in My Mind looks head-on at adolescent sparkle and the pathos of bygone days. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 3rd, 2020 (Tuesday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 2 | 20:10 pm
November 5th, 2020 (Thursday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 1 | 11:20 am

**Taiwan Equals Love** by Sophia Yen – Taiwan | 2020 – 85 minutes
**Section**: World Focus

In May 2019, Taiwan became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. This documentary captures Taiwan’s journey to that point and current issues focusing on three same-sex couples. (TIFF 2020)

Trailer:

**The Old Town Girls** by Shen Yu – China | 2020 – 104 minutes
**Section**: Tokyo Premiere 2020

High school girl living with her father and stepmother is visited by her biological mother, who left her soon after birth. They gradually reconcile, but the mother has a heavy debt. Emerging director’s debut feature. (TIFF 2020)

Screening Dates:
November 1st, 2020 (Sunday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 2 | 12:25 pm
November 6th, 2020 (Friday) | TOHO CINEMAS Roppongi Hills Screen 3 | 17:05 pm

Trailer: