Tokyo Film Festival Sets Dates, But Market Lacks a Venue

Organizers of the Tokyo International Film Festival have unveiled dates for the 2023 edition of the festival and for TIFFCOM, the accompanying rights market. But they have yet to confirm a venue for TIFFCOM.

The 36th edition of the Tokyo festival will be held for ten days from Oct. 23 through Nov. 1. TIFFCOM will operate for three days from Oct. 25-23.

The festival will return to the Hibiya-Yurakucho-Marunouchi-Ginza area that it has called home since 2021. “We hope that the 36th TIFF will play a role in the revival of the film industry in the post-COVID era,” organizers said in a statement.

The market has been held as an online-only event for the past three editions, including 2022 when the Tokyo festival was held as an in-person event and when other Asian rights markets such as Busan’s Asian Film & Contents Market and Singapore’s Asian Television Forum had returned to physical venues.

Tokyo organizers explained at the time that TIFFCOM needs to secure venues more than a year in advance. But it was unable to do so because of the scarcity of suitable venues in Tokyo and the uncertainty as to when Japan’s disease control measures would be relaxed.

The 2022 online market welcomed 1,895 participants from 58 countries or regions. It hosted 327 virtual exhibitors from a record 33 countries or regions and hosted 100 online screening titles. Online seminars in 2022 numbered 14, compared with 15 in 2021.

The film financing component, Tokyo Gap Financing Market selected an unchanged 20 projects, from 75 submissions.