Tokyo International Film Festival opens Monday with Sukiyaki, the story behind Japan's Billboard No. 1

The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival runs from Monday, 26 October, to 4 November, with more than 200 films and events in the Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi and Ginza districts. The opening red carpet will again be on Hibiya-Nakadori Avenue.1

Opening night

The festival opens with the Asian premiere of Takahisa Zeze's Sukiyaki, about the making of Ue o Muite Arukō, the song that topped the US Billboard chart for three weeks in 1963. Junichi Okada plays composer Hachidai Nakamura, Tori Matsuzaka plays lyricist Rokusuke Ei and Taiga Nakano plays singer Kyu Sakamoto. The film opens in Japanese cinemas on 25 December.23

Middle and end

The centrepiece is Godzilla Minus Zero, Takashi Yamazaki's follow-up to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, starring Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe. It reaches Japanese cinemas on 3 November. The festival closes with Colony, a thriller from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho.2

This year's theme is “Connecting — Cinema Connects Us to the World Beyond”. The TIFFCOM content market runs alongside the festival from 28 to 30 October.1

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