Lisandro Alonso was named best director for ‘Double Freedom,’ while Hu Ling and Narita Ryo took the acting prizes.
Milcho Manchevski’s “Sister Brother Manhole Cover,” a comic allegory about two siblings who strip scrap metal from the streets of Skopje, won the Tokyo Grand Prix at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday.
A steady drizzle failed to dampen the spirits of a full house at Hulic Hall for closing night, a gentler send-off than the downpour that greeted the festival’s opening on Oct. 26.
Jury president Rolf de Heer said the jury chose the film “for the humanity and compassion shown towards its characters” and for being “a complex, coherent film that manages to be both touching and playful.” The prize carries JPY3 million ($19,000). Viktor and Malina make their living stealing manhole covers and copper busts. When a pilfered bronze bust of a national hero lands on Viktor’s foot, the pair tumble into the lowest depths of the North Macedonian capital. The film is a co-production between North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Italy and the U.K., and it is Manchevski’s first fiction feature since “Kaymak.”
With Manchevski having left Tokyo already, producer Jane Kortoshev and the film’s leads, Sara Klimoska and Filip Trajković, accepted the prize. Tokyo Vice Governor Yamashita Satoshi presented the Governor of Tokyo Award, standing in for Governor Koike Yuriko, who could not attend.
“We came here to Tokyo with a manhole cover, and we are going back to Macedonia with a beautiful award,” Kortoshev said. “I’d say it’s a pretty good deal, huh?”
“This award is a little vindication for a quirky film that almost did not happen,” Manchevski said. “A film about unusual families, and about the haves and have-nots. A film not about messages, but about people.”
Rolf de Heer’s fellow competition jurors were producers Alex Lo and Oh Jungwan, actor Watanabe Makiko and colorist Yov Moor. In his overview, de Heer said the 15 competition titles had so little in common that they were hard to judge against each other.
“It was like programming director [Ichiyama] Shozo was playing a trick on us in his selecting the films, or giving us a test,” de Heer said.
The Special Jury Prize, worth JPY500,000 ($3,200), went to Sun Xun’s “Magic Atlas” from Singapore, an animated feature the Chinese-born artist spent about a decade making. In it, an orphan inherits a magician’s book and uses it to recover the memories an authoritarian empire has buried. The animation moves from ink-wash painting to medieval European engraving. Juror Oh Jungwan cited the film’s “remarkable craftsmanship.” Speaking through an interpreter, Sun said that being selected for the competition had been a huge surprise and that winning was a bigger one.
Lisandro Alonso won best director for “Double Freedom,” which the festival presents as a kind of sequel to his 2001 debut “La Libertad.” A solitary woodcutter’s life in the forest unravels when he has to take in his sister after her psychiatric facility closes. Juror Alex Lo praised the film’s “minimalist yet efficient cinematic language,” which, they said, “captures the weight and passage of time with precision.” Alonso was unable to travel. In a video message, he said he hoped to come to Tokyo “sometime in the future, with another film.” The directing, acting and artistic contribution prizes each carry JPY300,000 ($1,900).
Japan’s onlly win in the main competition came in the acting category. Narita Ryo was named best actor for Mishima Yukiko’s “Two Cigarettes, Three Nights.” He plays a longtime friend who reconnects with a stalled Kyoto illustrator, played by Matsuoka Mayu, across three nights in three cities. Narita was not at the ceremony, and Mishima accepted on his behalf.
“There was one day when we badly needed snow, and it just wouldn’t come,” Mishima said. “I was looking up at the sky saying, ‘I wish it would snow,’ and Narita, standing next to me, shouted at the sky, ‘Snow, fall!’ And it snowed.”
Best actress went to Hu Ling for Wang Jiangyong’s first feature, “The Night That Binds Us.” She plays a grieving Shanghai dormitory manager who falls for a younger student whose parents have been arrested on suspicion of fraud. A visibly emotional Hu thanked her alma mater, the Beijing Film Academy.
Jelena Maksimović’s first feature, “Until the Day Ends,” took the award for best artistic contribution. In it, a student activist and a young government supporter take to the road together during Serbia’s 2024 protests. Maksimović dedicated the prize to the students and citizens of Serbia who have spent the past two years fighting for freedom.
Festival director Hisamatsu Takeo presented the audience award, which carries no cash prize, to Teodora Ana Mihai’s “Heysel 85.” The film recreates the 1985 Brussels stadium disaster, in which fan violence before the European Cup final killed 39 people.
“There is always a bit of fear that it will not, you know, be received well,” Mihai said. “So this is so special.”
In the Asian Future section, Tareq Daoud’s Swiss-Turkish “Serife Tavsan” won best film and JPY1 million ($6,300). In it, a recently widowed woman in her 70s sets out to please herself, and her children object to her new lifestyle and friendships. Ariani Darmawan’s Indonesian film “Jani Be Good” received a special mention. Set over four days before Christmas, it follows a girl who clashes with her single mother after her older sister leaves home.
Nippon Cinema Now’s best film went to Tanaka Miki’s debut “Silver Express,” which won JPY500,000 ($3,200). In it, a young woman who has never been attracted to anyone romantically bonds with a man who is wired the same way. Matsumura Shingo’s “Between Us” took the section’s Special Jury Prize and JPY300,000 ($1,900). It follows two former child performers who meet again in their high school drama club six years after a family camping trip split them up.
Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” won the TIFF Ethical Film Award and JPY200,000 ($1,300). The award was judged by a jury headed by actor Isomura Hayato. Based on a true story, the film follows a queer Ukrainian couple who are trapped when Russia invades just after one partner legally changes his gender marker, because military-service rules stop him from leaving.
In the Asian Students’ Film Conference, a competition for shorts made by students at film schools across Asia, Nguyen Vu Hien Chi’s “Running Wild in the Sun” won best film and JPY300,000 ($1,900). Nah Yi-chen’s “Everything’s Peachy” and Kim Nam-hyeon’s “All of Her” shared the Special Jury Prize and receive JPY100,000 ($630) each.
The Kurosawa Akira Award, worth JPY1 million ($6,300) to each recipient, went to O Mipo and Mohammad Rasoulof. Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, received the Global Cinema Leadership Special Award.
After the awards, the festival screened its closing film, Yeon Sang-ho’s Korean zombie thriller “Colony,” which is set in a high-rise sealed off after a bioterror attack. Yeon introduced it with star Koo Kyo-hwan, producer Yang Yoomin and Nao and Kaji Yuki, who voice the film’s Japanese dub.
“I think of the theater as a form of entertainment where you can safely immerse yourself in lives and situations you’ve never lived,” Yeon said. “In ‘Colony,’ you go through the kind of survival that would be horrifying in real life. I hope you relish it in the theater.”
Kaji said the infected’s movements were performed by contemporary dancers, not created with CGI. “Colony” opens in Japan on Jan. 1.
In his closing address, Hisamatsu looked ahead to next year’s 40th edition, which he called a milestone that would set the course for the festival’s next decade.
“Not every film is bright and cheerful,” Hisamatsu said. “But a festival should be a place to enjoy all kinds of films, those included, to talk about them and to celebrate them.”
The clock on stage, supplied by festival sponsor Rolex, may have been a first for the festival. It certainly proved that the organizers know how to run a punctiliously timed ceremony, ending within a minute of its scheduled 6:30 pm close. The second-by-second choreography, with two female helpers directing judges and winners where to stand to the millimeter, added to the clockwork precision.
Tuxes could be seen only a handful of men, including programming director Ichiyama and festival director Hisamatsu. This was in contrast with past years, when men’s formal wear was more common among TIFF VIPs.
Tokyo Grand Prix / The Governor of Tokyo Award
“Sister Brother Manhole Cover,” dir. Milcho Manchevski
Special Jury Prize
“Magic Atlas,” dir. Sun Xun
Best Director
Lisandro Alonso, “Double Freedom”
Best Actress
Hu Ling, “The Night That Binds Us”
Best Actor
Narita Ryo, “Two Cigarettes, Three Nights”
Best Artistic Contribution
“Until the Day Ends,” dir. Jelena Maksimović
Audience Award
“Heysel 85,” dir. Teodora Ana Mihai
Asian Future Best Film
“Serife Tavsan,” dir. Tareq Daoud
Asian Future Special Mention
“Jani Be Good,” dir. Ariani Darmawan
Nippon Cinema Now Best Film
“Silver Express,” dir. Tanaka Miki
Nippon Cinema Now Special Jury Prize
“Between Us,” dir. Matsumura Shingo
Asian Students’ Film Conference Best Film
“Running Wild in the Sun,” dir. Nguyen Vu Hien Chi
Asian Students’ Film Conference Special Jury Prize
“Everything’s Peachy,” dir. Nah Yi-chen
“All of Her,” dir. Kim Nam-hyeon
Kurosawa Akira Award
O Mipo
Mohammad Rasoulof
TIFF Ethical Film Award
“I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming,” dir. Isabelle Stever
Global Cinema Leadership Special Award
Bill Kramer, CEO, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
