Tokyo International Film Festival launches Mizoguchi retrospective and anime symposium
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival presents a 13-film Mizoguchi retrospective, an anime award symposium, and marks the 10th anniversary of the Teens Cinema Workshop.
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival unveiled several cultural programmes. A retrospective of 13 films pays tribute to Kenji Mizoguchi on the 70th anniversary of his death, accompanied by a symposium on a possible international anime prize and a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Teens Cinema Workshop.
The retrospective, presented under the aegis of TIFF/NFAJ Classics with the National Archives of Japan, will run from October 27 to November 1 at the Nagase Ozu Memorial Theatre. The 13 works, subtitled in English, will be shown in 12 screenings, with an emphasis on recently restored prints. The highlight is The Water Magician (1933), screened for the first time in Japan in a digital restoration supported by the Yanai Initiative, a joint project of Waseda University and UCLA. Live benshi narration and musical accompaniment will complement the screenings, alongside guest lectures. Titles presented include Osaka Elegy, Sisters of Gion, The 47 Ronin (Parts I and II) and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums.