The 21st Tokyo International Film Festival

Posted by Yuka as City Tokyo, Famous

The Tokyo International Film Festival kicked off yesterday with an
environmental theme and stars including American actress Julianne Moore
and Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai walking a “green” carpet made
of recycled plastic bottles. Japanese-Taiwanese heartthrob Takeshi
Kaneshiro, popular Japanese actor Satoshi Tsumabuki and film director
John Woo waved at fans during the opening ceremony at Tokyo’s glitzy
Roppongi Hills, one of the two main venues for the festival.

The 21st film show is backed by the Japanese government. Prime Minister
Taro Aso greeted Woo, Leung and Kaneshiro at the ceremony. The theme of
this year’s nine-day festival is the environment, said Genki Nagaya,
one of the organizers. It includes an ecology category with films on
the environment and documentaries about climate change and animals.
Woo’s historical epic “Red Cliff,” starring Leung and Kaneshiro, will
have a special screening. Based on a famous battle in third-century
China, “Red Cliff” is W
oo’s first Chinese film after a 16-year stint in Hollywood, where he made hits such as “Face/Off” and “Mission: Impossible II.

The Hollywood trade publication Variety has said “Red Cliff” is the
most expensive Asian production in history, with a reported cost of
US$80 million. It is not among the 15 Japanese and foreign films vying
for the festival’s top prize of US$100,000.-AP