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The Tokyo International Film Festival is preparing for its 30th celebration of all things cinematic. As they do every year, they’ll be shining a spotlight around the world of film, screening international blockbusters as well as independent films from around the globe.

The event will be held from October 25 to November 3 at venues around the city (check their website for more details), and it will be divided into several different categories:

In their Animation Focus section, they’ll be highlighting the work of director Keiichi Hara, director of such films as Colorful and Miss Hokusai. The director has won awards at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and is celebrated for being able to maintain the singular vision of an auteur while also achieving commercial success.

In the Japan Now section, four iconic actresses will take center stage: Sakura Ando, Yu Aoi, Hikari Mitsushima, and Aoi Miyazaki. These four “Muses of Japanese Cinema” are being recognized for their powerful performances, their work with top-notch directors, and their growing international star power.

In recognition of the cinematic talent coming out of Southeast Asia, TIFF will be screening films by up-and-comers whose work has been recommended by world-class directors such as Brillante Ma Mendoza from the Philippines, Garin Nugroho from Indonesia, and Eric Khoo from Singapore. These films will be collected in the Crosscut Asia series.

Around Halloween, there will be several special events, including a screening of the original Godzilla film accompanied by a live orchestra, a Midnight Film Festival featuring animation, Japanese new-wave films, and, of course, plenty of horror. Before the festival begins, and while it’s running, there will be a series of open-air screenings that will be free to the general public.

Finally, in collaboration with Children Meet Cinema, an organization that runs filmmaking workshops for children, TIFF will present TIFF 2017: Teens Meet Cinema. In this production workshop, a group of junior high school students will write, shoot, and edit a film, under the mentorship of director Nobuhiro Suwa.

TIFF Special Screening Ticket Giveaway

[Update] This giveaway is now closed.

Ahead of the festival, TIFF will be holding a special screening of the opening film for last year’s TIFF, Florence Foster Jenkins (starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant) on Saturday, September 30. Doors open at 3:30pm and the film starts at 4:00pm. We’ve got five pairs of tickets to give away. In order to enter, please send an email to [email protected] with the following information:

Subject line: Tokyo Weekender TIFF 30th Ticket Giveaway

In the body of the email, please write your full name, your mailing address, and your answer to this question:

How many times has Meryl Streep been nominated for an Academy Award?

The deadline for the giveaway is Monday, September 18. Good luck!

For more information about TIFF, visit their website: http://2017.tiff-jp.net/en/