The 11th edition will see the launch of the Next Master Tokyo initiative, which aims to support up and coming Asian talent.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives will opening the 11th Tokyo Filmex on November 20; and Lee Chang-dong’s Cannes screenplay winner Poetry will close the event eight days later.

The 10-film competition section, which focuses on work from emerging Asian filmmakers, includes Dante Lam’s latest film Stool Pigeon; Iranian-German Berlin entry The Hunter; Chinese director Hao Jie’s debut film Single Man; Korean director Jang Cheol-Soo’s Bedevilled; documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda’s Peace; South Korean Venice horizons entry Anti Gas Skin and Japanese world premiere Love Addiction, directed by Nobuteru Uchida.

The competition jury will be headed by festival circuit veteran Ulrich Gregor, founder of the Berlinale’s International Forum of New Cinema and co-founder of Berlin’s Arsenal Institute For Film. He is joined by famed Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, prolific Chinese film-maker Ning Ying, Japanese screenwriter Akane Shiratori and Hong Kong International Film Festival artistic director, Li Cheuk-To.

In addition to the opening and closing films, special screenings include the Japan premiere of Sion Sono’s serial killer drama Cold Fish, which just screened at both Venice and Toronto, Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, Jia Zhang-ke’s I Wish I Knew and Jaco Van Dormael’s Mr. Nobody.

There will also be retrospectives on Israeli film-maker Amos Gitai and a selection of classic Shochiku films, including rare 1948 film The Portrait directed by Keisuke Kinoshita from a screenplay written by Akira Kurosawa.

Tokyo Filmex also launches the first edition of its Next Masters Tokyo initiative, established to foster future Asian directors. It has selected 20 young filmmakers from across Asia to participate in a 7-day series of lectures, project pitching and networking.

Next Masters will be mentored by director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, producer Simon Field, The Match Factory’s Michael Weber and Berlin Talent Campus manager Matthijs Wouter Knol.

Tokyo Filmex Competition Lineup:

The Hunter (Shekarchi), Rafi Pitts (Iran-Germany)

Year Without A Summer, Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia)

The Stool Pigeon (Sin Yan), Dante Lam (Hong Kong)

Single Man, Hao Jie (China)

Thomas Mao (Xiao Dong Xi), Zhu Wen (China)

Bedevilled (Kim-bok-nam Sal-in-sa-eui Jeon-mal), Jang Cheol-Soo (South Korea)

Love Addiction (Fuyu no Kemono), Nobuteru Uchida (Japan)

Peace, Kazuhiro Soda (Japan-USA)

Anti Gas Skin (Bangdokpi), Kim Gok and Kim Sun (South Korea)

When Love Comes, Chang Tso Chi (Taiwan)

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