French actor Chiara Mastroianni and iconic Hong Kong director Johnnie To are among a pack of heavyweight names joining Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the main competition jury of this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The festival is set to run Oct. 28 – Nov. 6.
Completing the judging panel are Hungarian screenwriter and director Ildiko Enyedi and Japanese star actor Hashimoto Ai.
The festival’s full lineup of films and events will be outlined at a presentation in late September.
The selection of Enyedi, who won the 2017 edition of the Berlin festival with her “On Body and Soul,” cannot be a coincidence. She is directing Leung in upcoming title “Silent Friend,” a picture which marks Leung’s first European movie role.
“Being in a jury is always an exceptional, very intense experience. This is not a field for small talk. Jury work is a series of unusually deep and revealing meetings,” said Enyedi.
Hashimoto, who has previously served as the festival’s ambassador, said that she never dreamed of the day when she would switch roles to be a jury member. “The responsibility of influencing someone’s life is quite frightening. However, I hope to approach each film with sincerity, engage with it earnestly, and fully immerse myself in the cinematic experience,” she said.
Mastroianni, known for her role in 1994 title “Ready to Wear” and as a part of the groundbreaking animation film “Persepolis,” was the winner of the best actress award at Cannes for Christophe Honoré’s “On a Magical Night.”
Leung’s appointment was announced in May. The star attended the festival last year where he gave a master class and attended the screening of classic Wong Kar-wai film “2046.” He previously visited the Tokyo festival in 2000, when another Wong film “In the Mood for Love” was shown in the festival’s special screening section. Leung returned with 2008 John Woo film “Red Cliff: Part 1.”
