In the five years since Hiroyasu Ando took sole charge at the top of Tokyo International Film Festival, the progress made under the energetic octogenarian former diplomat is palpable. Despite the distinctly inauspicious start of his first full event in charge unfurling under the cloud of a global pandemic, the Tokyo festival is now generating more buzz than it has in decades.
An increase in world premieres, international guests and side events, along with the relocation to the more accessible and atmospheric Hibiya-Ginza-Yurakucho districts, are helping to boost the festival’s profile and clout. However, Ando seems unwilling to rest on his laurels, determined to continue driving progress, attract more local cinemagoers and strengthen the event’s impact beyond cinema.
Ando sat down with The Hollywood Reporter as this year’s edition was getting underway to share his thoughts on what the festival was getting right and what was still left to do.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.imdb.com ’
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