Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) and its accompanying market, TIFFCOM, will take place at the same time this year and in adjacent venues.
The 33rd TIFF will take place for ten days from October 31 (Saturday) until November 9 (Monday) at its usual venues in Roppongi Hills, the Hibiya area and other venues in Tokyo.
TIFFCOM will be held for three days from November 4 (Wednesday) until November 6 (Friday) at a new venue, The Prince Park Tower Tokyo. Roppongi Hills and Prince Park Tower are a 20-minute walk or a short taxi ride away from each other.
The changes will be welcome news to industry participants who have long called for the festival and market to be held at the same time and physically closer together. TIFFCOM’s venue for the past few years, Sunshine City in the Ikebukuro district, is several train stops away from Roppongi and drew mixed reviews from industry guests.
In 2019, TIFFCOM was held before TIFF, with a five-day gap between the two events, although that was a one-off situation, due to the enthronement of Japan’s new emperor, which took place around the same time. In previous years, TIFFCOM has been held just prior to TIFF, with the two events overlapping.
“This year’s Tokyo International Film Festival will deepen communications with other countries like never before, during this year of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics,” said Hiroyasu Ando, who serves as TIFF chairman with Takeo Hisamatsu as festival director. “Focusing on cooperation with TIFFCOM, which will once again be held at the same time as TIFF, we would like to enrich the festival’s content. We look forward to welcoming you to the 33rd TIFF.”
The new dates also put TIFF and TIFFCOM on a collision course with the American Film Market (AFM) in Los Angeles, which announced yesterday that it is cutting down to a shorter six-day format, and this year running November 3-8.
TIFFCOM organisers say they’re aware of the clash, but had no other choice due to venue availability. ”Many events held in Tokyo will be pushing back their dates to fall because of the Olympic games and there were no other choices,” explained a spokesperson. “Our top priority this year is for the market to be held together with the festival dates and we reluctantly made a decision for this.”
In a statement, TIFFCOM CEO Yasushi Shiina said: “TIFFCOM 2019 welcomed participants from 56 countries and regions around the world, and it’s growing bigger and bigger every year. Marking our 17th year in 2020, TIFFCOM will move to a new venue closer to the festival. TIFFCOM will continue developing as a marketplace for the latest comprehensive audiovisual projects and products, and an ever-expanding global network.”
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