Rolf de Heer to Head Tokyo Film Festival Jury — SkimNews
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- Tokyo International Film Festival named Australian director Rolf de Heer president of the international competition jury for its 39th edition, running Oct. 26–Nov. 4.
- Rolf de Heer brings more than 40 years of filmmaking in Tasmania, with 15½ directing credits and four films in Cannes' official selection, including "Ten Canoes" (2006), which won the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize.
- "Bad Boy Bubby" (1993) won both the Special Jury Prize and Fipresci Prize at Venice, while "Charlie's Country" (2013) earned David Gulpilil the best actor award at Cannes.
- "The Survival of Kindness" (2022) — a competition entry at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival where it won the Fipresci Prize — will screen in the new Australia Spotlight program, mounted jointly with the Australian Embassy in Japan.
- Festival director Hisamatsu Takeo praised de Heer's "distinctive perspective and unwavering commitment," saying his experience will bring "fresh dialogue and discoveries" to the competition selection.
- The festival's industry market TIFFCOM will run Oct. 28–30 alongside the main event.
Why it matters: The appointment puts a director whose career is built on Aboriginal Australian stories atop a major Asian festival's competition jury, while the Australian Embassy–co-organized Australia Spotlight program transforms the announcement into a soft-power moment for Australian cinema in Japan.
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