Taiwanese filmmaker wins accolade at Tokyo film festival

Tokyo, Nov. 6 (CNA) Taiwanese director Fu Tien-yu (傅天余) was presented a Kurosawa Akira Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on Tuesday for her feature film "Day Off" (本日公休), according to a news release by event organizers.

Fu's film follows the protagonist, a female barber, embarking on a long journey to cut the hair of an old customer who moved away and is too sick to travel, according to the Taiwan Creative Content Agency established by the Ministry of Culture.

At the awards ceremony, TIFF Programming Director Ichiyama Shozo, who is also a selection committee member, said that Fu showed the same spirit seen in Taiwan's New Cinema wave and "depicted life in Taiwan realistically and sympathetically."

Renowned veteran Japanese film director Yamada Yoji commented that Fu's film was "a really lovely film, which depicts people with precision and warmth," and praised Fu's "state of the art" cinematic expression.

Yamada continued to say the movie made him wonder "Why can't the Japanese make this kind of work?"

After expressing gratitude for her recognition from the festival and selection committee members, Fu called Yamada her "idol" and spoke of getting "great power from his work."

Asked by a Taiwanese journalist how she felt about the future of young filmmakers in Taiwan, Fu acknowledged her generation is different from Kurosawa Akira's, but that she feels that "film is precious. The experience of going to a dark theater and sharing a film with others is irreplaceable," she said.

"I will put all my heart and soul into making films in the future," she pledged.

The Kurosawa Akira Award "was born because many younger filmmakers don't know the work of Kurosawa Akira, and we wanted to help pass down his name and spirit," said TIFF Chairman Ando Hiroyasu.

Kurosawa Akira was a Japanese director often cited as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

After being established in 2004, the award was discontinued for 14 years before being resumed in 2022.

Fu was the second Taiwanese director to receive the award, after Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢).

Recipients of the award, which this year also included filmmaker Miyake Sho from Japan, each received a crystal trophy and a 1 million yen (US$6,500) cash prize.

In addition to Ichiyama Shozo and Yamada Yoji, the 2024 selection committee of the award also consisted of casting director Narahashi Yoko and film critic Kawamoto Saburo.

The TIFF, now in its 37th year, declared its mission was "to amplify the possibilities of cinema from Tokyo and contribute to interactions with a diverse world" in 2023. This year, it proposed the principles of "international exchange," "nurturing talent for the industry's future" and "the female perspective" in line with the mission, according to its official website.