Today (25 October) sees the start of the 31^st edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival, a gathering that has always saved a spot for European cinema in its main sections. Almost 200 films will be screened and a handful of film events will be held in the Japanese capital until 3 November. 

This year, the Competition will welcome the world premiere of the new films by well-known European filmmakers György Pálfi and Veit Helmer, two of the most unique voices in Hungarian and German cinema, respectively. The former will present his latest title, His Master’s Voice [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], an adaptation of the sci-fi novel of the same name by Stanislaw Lem, while the latter will lift the veil on his new feature, The Bra [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Veit Helmer
scheda film], a quirky comedy starring Miki Manojlović, Paz Vega and… a bra.

A clutch of other European (co-)productions will be competing for the awards, selected from among 1,829 titles, the highest number of entries ever submitted to the festival, hailing from 109 countries and regions. Amanda [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mikhaël Hers
scheda film] by French director Mikhaël Hers, Before the Frost [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Elliott Crosset Hove
scheda film] by Danish filmmaker Michael Noer, The Vice of Hope [+leggi anche:
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trailer
scheda film] by Italian helmer Edoardo De Angelis and The White Crow [+leggi anche:
recensione
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intervista: Ralph Fiennes
scheda film], the third directorial outing by Ralph Fiennes, will be present in the section, as will the co-productions The River [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Emir Baigazin
scheda film] by Kazakhstan’s Emir Baigazin and Tel Aviv on Fire [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sameh Zoabi
scheda film] by Palestine’s Sameh Zoabi. The section is rounded off by a further eight titles hailing from Japan, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Canada and Brazil. The jury in charge of handing out the awards in the section is headed up by Filipino director Brillante Mendoza.

As for the parallel sections, a smattering of European movies will be taking part in the Special Screenings and the World Focus, dedicated to successful foreign films that have no Japanese distribution company attached yet. The Favourite [+leggi anche:
recensione
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scheda film], the Venice-awarded latest film by Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos, which looks set to have a great run during this year’s US awards season, will be seen in the former, while the latter will host the Asian premiere of Paolo Sorrentino’s international version of Loro [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] and Carlos Reygadas’ Our Time [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Carlos Reygadas
scheda film], as well as screenings of Louis Garrel’s A Faithful Man [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Louis Garrel
scheda film] and Olivier Assayas’ Non-Fiction [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Olivier Assayas
scheda film], among other co-productions. 

Furthermore, a special Focus on Israeli cinema will be held with the support of the Israeli Embassy in Japan and the Israel Film Fund.

The TIFFCOM, a market for film and TV content held in conjunction with the festival, is, as usual, presenting a vast array of Japanese and Asian projects to the world's film professionals who are in attendance from 23-25 October.