The Tokyo International Film Festival has named its 15-title Gala selection, headlined by Fan Bingbing in Wayne Wang’s “Diary of a Mad Old Man,” Pedro Pascal in Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!,” John Malkovich in Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” and Javier Bardem in Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved.” Wang’s film adapts Tanizaki Junichiro’s novel of the same name, relocating the story to present-day Tokyo, with Fan starring opposite Lily Franky and Kudoh Youki. Gilroy’s “Behemoth!” casts Pascal as a cellist alongside Olivia Wilde and Eva Victor. McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” also starring Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi, follows two CIA agents sent to Easter Island; Malkovich won the Venice Film Festival’s best actor award for the role.
Bardem stars opposite Victoria Luengo in “The Beloved,” about an estranged father and daughter confronting old wounds during a new film project. Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as members of a family relocating from Romania to Norway. Sode Yukiko’s “All the Lovers in the Night,” adapted from Kawakami Mieko’s novel, played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes ahead of its Tokyo bow.
The festival’s opening film is “Sukiyaki,” with “Godzilla Minus Zero” screening as the centerpiece selection and “Colony” as the closing film. TIFF also unveiled a 12-title Animation Section, which includes three Japanese titles selected under the theme “Women Directors: Diverse Visions”: Nagaoka Chika’s “Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire,” Watanabe Kotono’s “Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom” and Yoshimura Ai’s “The Rose of Versailles.” The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival runs Oct. 26-Nov. 4, hosted by Unijapan. Market TIFFCOM runs alongside it from Oct. 28-30.
Starring Kishii Yukino, Asano Tadanobu, Morita Misato. Starring Ethan Juan, Hsieh Ying Xuan, Tsutsumi Shinichi. Starring Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor.
Starring Javier Bardem, Victoria Luengo, Marina Foïs. Starring Hara Nanoka, Sakuma Ryuto, Mashima Hidekazu. Starring Oizumi Yo, Matsuda Ryuhei, Suzuki Kyoka.
Starring Lily Franky, Fan Bingbing, Kudoh Youki. Displacement Film Fund screenings (U.K./Syria/Ukraine/Turkey/Iran/Germany/Somalia/Austria) – Directed by Hasan Kattan, Maryna Er Gorbach, Mohammad Rasoulof, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Mo Harawe. Starring Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve.
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