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I have vivid memories of having a wonderful time in Tokyo last year.
This is because of the outstanding film festival TOKYO FILMeX. and because I could be a part of it.
Through film festival TOKYO FILMeX, I met new people, new movies which brought me enormous joy and unforgettable memories.
Although film festival TOKYO FILMeX is still young, I know that this film festival will continue to be loved by many Japanese people and movie lovers from all over the world.
I truly believe that film festival TOKYO FILMeX will grow as a film festival that will be able to present a brighter tomorrow always challenging unfading freshness.
AHN Sung- Ki (Actor / Korea)
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I was delighted to have had an opportunity to be a member of the Jury in Tokyo Filmex (2002). On that memorable occasion, I was fortunate to see a number of new films from Asia in general and Japan in particular. A few of these films were particularly fresh and exceptionally promising.
Throughout my career, I have served on many international juries. But I consider my experience at TOKYO FILMeX as particularly rewarding. I am not new to Japanese cinema. Throughout my life, I have always been attracted to Japanese cinema and its rich and diversified history.
Wherever I have lived, I have taken advantage of the opportunities that I have had and carefully studied the great masters of Japanese cinema.
The discovery of the cinema of Kenji MIZOGUCHI, Akira KUROSAWA, Yasujiro OZU, Kaneto SHINDO, Masaki KOBAYASHI, Nagisa OSHIMA, ICHIKAWA, and other masters has had a profound influence on my own cinema-as you can see it in the last scenes of "Runner" (1984), "Water, Wind, Dust" (1985) and most recently in my last black and white film, "Marathon" (2002)-all of these are my homage to Japanese cinema.
In my judgment, in a variety of crucial ways-such as working with camera and motion, innovative manners of telling a story, editing, uses of sound and silence, uses of black and white and color, including widescreen and other techniques-the Japanese cinema is unrivaled and has had a lasting influence on world cinema. What today we know and globally celebrate as minimalist cinema (next to Robert Bresson and Ermanno Olmi, chief among others) is entirely rooted in the cinema of Yasujiro OZU and Kaneto SHINDO, and a few other Japanese masters.
Today, TOKYO FILMeX provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to see the works of the very young Japanese filmmakers-an experience that was a great source of joy for me last year. I believe that today monumentally talented and original filmmakers, on whom I see the shadow of the Japanese masters, are providing us with an accurate document of the contemporary Japanese society, and because of them the Japanese cinema is once again assuming its global significance. The waves of young cinema enthusiasts during the TOKYO FILMeX 2002 was a clear indication that even if only 9 films are carefully selected for competition, and a handful more in other sections, the true lovers of cinema will enthusiastically welcome such opportunities. I am confident that the future filmmakers of Japan are now walking among this audience. In this endeavor, the TOKYO FILMeX is a path-breaker.
Cut.
New York,2003
Amir NADERI (film director)
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Last year (2002, Dec) I was very honoured to be invited by TOKYO FILMeX to be a jury member. In fact, as a seasoned director who had been working in the HongKong film industry for over twenty years I feel educated by this experience. I find myself quoting from the films seen at TOKYO FILMeX more often than I can remember. In short, there we can have an overall experience of the newest and most thought-provoking trends of film-making not only in Asia but all over the world.
Ann HUI (Film Director / Hong Kong)
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For me, good film festivals are the ones that motivate filmmakers and the audience to share intimate dialogs and glimpse into the future of cinema.
TOKYO FILMeX is one of the best in the bunch.
Apichatpong "Joe" WEERASETHAKUL (Film Director / Thailand)
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What makes any new venture interesting and worth engaging in is, in principal, it's blending of contradictions as contradictions are an inevitable part of life.
How not to lose the roots and yet allow new fertility to blossom. How to be ever evolving without becoming afflicted with characterless self-alienation. In a country as rich in cultural heritage as Japan, this certainly is a major challenge. It seems that the easy route is the most commonly taken root. You either stick to the status quo, the old out dated ways or a total and outright abandonment of the essense of one's character and a complete surrender to self-alienation.
What is certain, is that TOKYO FILMeX did not take the easy route. TOKYO FILMeX for me epitomizes an effecive effort in this direction and therefore most appealing. I had the honor of being part of the inaugural TOKYO FILMeX with my film Secret Ballot. My first impressions were surely contradictory. TOKYO FILMeX is not contaminated with blind reproduction of other, especially western festivals but it certainly rivals most. It has character. It is certainly Japanese, yet what is most appealing is that it represents young Japan. The future of Japan. What Japan is and what it is becoming, not what it was. The promise of the new generation. Visiting the TOKYO FILMeX, you know where they're coming from but there's no telling where they're headed. Isn't this what makes the world of cinema most exciting and experiencing films most enriching?
August 2003
Babak PAYAMI (Film director / Iran)
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Small in scale, but rich in mind.
Cold in weather, but warm in heart.
Simple but decent, short but unforgottable!
Derek CHIU (Film Director / Hong Kong)
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TOKYO FILMeX gave its second birth to "Angel on the Right".
I explain. The premiere of "Angel on the Right" was Cannes 2002 - "Un Certain Regard". But due to production problems, the film remained uncompleted and was "put on the shelf" right after that. I was doubting it would ever be released... TOKYO FILMeX selected "Angel on the Right" and insisted on the film being screened there. Their insistence and polite obstinacy were a real support and helped the film finally being completed and start its life again. I was very happy to go to Tokyo and present my film at its second and definitive premiere - though I usually prefer to stay home... I hope that TOKYO FILMeX will go on living and giving life to many films for a long time.
Djamshed USMONOV (film director / Tajikistan)
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TOKYO FILMeX is Tokyo's finest festival for Asian film. It is here that one gets to see the rare old film or the brilliant new one - and it is here that the finest of new Asian talent comes.
Donald RICHIE (film historian / Tokyo)
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TOKYO FILMeX is one of the most dynamic and innovative new film festivals in Asia and the whole world.
Every year, it shows a programme of carefully selected films from Asian countries and a unique retrospective, accompanied by talks, seminars and discussions with the audience. These discussions are generally held in the cinema after the film - a very useful tradition. TOKYO FILMeX is worth while attending for foreign visitors because real discovieres can be made here, but at the same time the festival is an exciting event for the Tokyo audience of film lovers, providing contact with new films which otherwise might not reach a japanese screen.
It seems to us that TOKYO FILMeX is one of the most outstanding cinematic events in Tokyo.
One of its most attractive features is that the programme is coherent and can actually be seen entirely; it is not overcharged like most other film festivals at the present time.
The atmosphere of TOKYO FILMeX is friendly, fresh, exciting and rejuvenating. It is also extremely well organized.
We wish TOKYO FILMeX a glorious future!
Berlin, 28 August 2003
Erika and Ulrich GREGOR (International Forum of New Cinema at the Berlin International Film Festival / Germany)
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The TOKYO FILMeX is to me exemplary of the "small is beautiful" philosophy an intimate event with a small, judicious, critical and wonderful selection. A real cineaste's festival where it's possible to see all the films and talk to your fellow film-goers about each and every one of them. The retrospective programs: Tapiovaara, OKAMOTO, and 60ﾕs Russian cinema, have also been eye-opening.
Jacob WONG (Programmer of Asian Cinema for the Hong Kong Intﾕl Film Festival)
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I participated in TOKYO FILMeX with my film, ﾒAddress Unknownﾓ 2 years ago. I got an impression that original and fresh films were selected for this international film festival. This impression reminds me of the image of the Tsukiji Fish Market where I dropped in during my stay in Japan, because that wholesale market also had plenty of healthy and fresh fish. It is my great pleasure that I will be able to attend this festival again, as a jury member this year.
KIM Ki-duk (film director / Korea)
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I send my best wishes that TOKYO-FILMEX may preserve intact the original youthful, energetic and informal spirit.
NING Ying (film director / china)
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X marks the spot and the TOKYO FILMeX marks the spot where Asia's new cinema is converging.
Philip CHEAH (Festival Director Singapore Int'l Film Festival)
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TOKYO FILMeX is my favourite film festival in Japan, and the one which seems to me to make the biggest contribution to Japan's developing film culture. It has a sensible-size programme, exceptionally well-chosen films and its guests are always people worth listening to and talking to. And it's run in a friendly, informal way, which makes it easy to see films, attend discussions and meet visitors. User-friendliness is a very important quality for any festival; far too many festivals are disorganised, bureaucratic and elitist. TOKYO FILMeX does a great job in promoting new cinema from Japan and the Asian region in general. And since East Asia in particular continues to produce some of the most interesting and innovative movies made anywhere in the world, this is just about the most important job a festival can do.
Tony RAYNS (Film Critics / UK)
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I really appreciate your kindness last year. I am sure that one film can be a common language of the world. I hope TOKYO FILMeX continues to stand by and support films from now on too. I also keep my end up.
ISEYA Yusuke (Film director, Actor / Japan)
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TOKYO FILMeX is opening the way for young filmmakers in Asia, which I think is very meaningful and important.
UJITA Takashi (scripter, director / Japan)
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It was an unforgettable experience that I received the audience awards for my film ﾒFort Graveyardﾓ at TOKYO FILMeX 2001. I really would like to join in this film festival again with my new, more stimulating film. I will see you then.
OKAMOTO Kihachi (film director / Japan)
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I hope that TOKYO FILMeX will grow as a film festival that doesnﾕt narrow filmmakersﾕ view but leads it to a broader space.
OGURI Kohei (Film director / Japan)
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Oh yes! We can do anything like this in the world of cinemaﾉ Every time I visit, TOKYO FILMeX makes me realize that.
KUROSAWA Kiyoshi (Film director / Japan)
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Nowadays the word ﾒheartyﾓ is disappearing, therefore ﾒA heart warming film festival=TOKYO FILMeXﾓ is like a treasure for me.
GOUZU Naoe (Producer,Film director / Japan)
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Every time I visited film festivals abroad, I always wished weﾕd had a place like that in Japan where we could communicate through films. This dream did come true with TOKYO FILMeX.
KORE-EDA Hirokazu (Film director / Japan)
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After all, what attracts us to a film festival is the personality of the director. At TOKYO FILMeX, the only thing we have to do is nothing more than to receive crazy love for films from Kanako HAYASHI and Shozo ICHIYAMA. That is the happiness what we call Cinema.
SAI Yoichi (Film director / Japnan)
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I have great confidence in TOKYO FILMeX! Iﾕm looking forward to seeing selected films this year again.
SABU (Film director / Japan)
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I am strongly hopeful that TOKYO FILMeX continues to be the worldﾕs best window of cinema, through which winds blow from the west, the east or somewhere else we could never know.
SHIOTA Akihiko(Film director / Japan)
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As one of filmgoers, it is a great treat for me to go to TOKYO FILMeX expecting what kinds of film will be programmed. I hope you will enjoy plotting well this year too.
SUOU Masayuki (Film director / Japan)
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All of the kings of independent selected by real cineastes will get together. It was my great pleasure that my film was invited last year.
TSUKAMOTO Shinya (Film director / Japan)
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It has been long since I got acquainted with great directors of this film festival, Kanako HAYASHI and Shozo ICHIYAMA. Films recommended by them are the Eighth Wonder of the World. Never have they made me disappointed.
TERAJIMA Susumu (Actor / Japan)
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It is also one of pleasures in our life to meet great films. I hope many people will have wonderful encounters in Tokyo in this winter again.
NISHIKAWA Miwa (Director of the film ﾒWild Berriesﾓ / Japan)
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I feel something potential from TOKYO FILMeX that doesnﾕt exist in any other film festivals. Powerful and fresh films are selected, so Iﾕm looking forward to seeing them.
HANEDA Sumiko (Documentary film director / Japan)
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I think TOKYO FILMeX keeps a wonderful balance between the earnest spirit toward cinema and the atmosphere that is not closed. I am looking forward to visiting this yearﾕs festival too.
FUJII Kenjiro (Film director / Japan)
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In recent years, I find my heart beating when TOKYO FILMeX is getting close. Because I know I can be able to see sincere films and get lots of energy there. I am looking forward to this yearﾕs film festival very much.
MIHARA Mitsuhiro (film director /Japan)
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