Rolf de Heer appointed Tokyo Film Festival jury president

The Tokyo International Film Festival announced that Australian director Rolf de Heer will serve as chairman of the jury for the International Competition of the 39th International Film Festival.This year’s International Film Festival will be held from October 26th to November 4th, and the supporting official industry market TIFFCOM is scheduled to be officially held from October 28th to 30th.

De Heer has lived and worked in Tasmania, Australia for a long time, and his career as a director, screenwriter and producer has spanned more than 40 years.Trained at the Australian School of Film, Television and Radio, his work spans films of varying budgets, subjects and production scales.

His directorial resume includes 15 semi-feature films.Fourteen of the screenplays he wrote or co-wrote were later made into feature films.In terms of production, he has participated in the production or co-production of 16 feature films and 5 documentaries.

De Heer's 1993 film Bad Boy Bubby won the Special Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Award at the Venice International Film Festival.A total of four of his works were selected into the official section of the Cannes Film Festival. Among them, Ten Canoes in 2006 won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.

This year's “World Focus” section of the Tokyo International Film Festival will set up a special Australian screening and cooperate with the Australian Embassy in Japan.This section will screen De Heer's 2022 film The Survival of Kindness.This film was shortlisted for the main competition of the 73rd Berlin Film Festival and later won the FIPRESCI Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Talking about the upcoming judging work, De Heer said that it is an honor to participate in the Tokyo International Film Festival, especially as a filmmaker serving as a member of the jury.He mentioned that the more films he makes, the fewer opportunities he has to watch other films on the big screen, and the jury job requires him to watch at least 15 works and communicate with other filmmakers.

Film festival chairman Takero Hisamatsu said he welcomed De Hill as chairman of the jury.He believes that De Heer has devoted himself to film creation with a distinctive perspective for many years and has continuously opened up the possibilities of film expression. He looks forward to his experience and insight bringing new exchanges to the discussion of the competition unit.

The report also listed De Hill's other masterpieces.1991's Dingo starred Colin Friels and jazz musician Miles Davis.2002's The Tracker began his collaboration with Australian Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil.

In 2013, Gulpilil won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Charlie's Country.In 2003, Alexandra's Project was shortlisted for competition at the Berlin Film Festival, and Helen Boudet won the Best Actress Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival for this film.

The complete list of the jury for the International Competition of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival is yet to be announced by the festival.De Heer has confirmed his participation in this selection as chairman, and his film will also appear in a special screening in Australia.