Together with the TIFFCOM film market, which takes place alongside the festival, Tokyo serves not only as an important showcase for Japanese and Asian cinema, but also as a major meeting point for the international film industry. This year, the festival presents 204 films from 112 countries and regions.

German cinema is also strongly represented across the program. The World Focus section, which highlights current developments in international auteur cinema, includes Angela Schanelec’s MY WIFE CRIES, Valeska Grisebach’s THE DREAMED ADVENTURE and DAU by Ilya Khrzhanovsky. Each of the three films celebrated its world premiere at one of the major A-list festivals, respectively at the Berlinale, Cannes and Venice.

Isabelle Stever’s I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING has been selected for the Women’s Empowerment section. The section focuses on films by women and on diverse perspectives on female self-determination. Its internationally oriented selection explores how social, political and personal circumstances shape identity and individual lives.

The festival also places a special spotlight on German cinema with a tribute to Ulrike Ottinger in the World Focus Section – Retrospective Ulrike Ottinger. Alongside THEBLOOD COUNTESS, TIFF will screen her films UNDER SNOW and TICKET OF NO RETURN.

The Displacement Film Fund program presents five short films by filmmakers who address displacement, migration and the experience of being forced to leave one’s home from either a personal or artistic perspective. The German production SUPER AFGHAN GYM by Shahrbanoo Sadat is part of the program. The film follows Afghan women who meet during the only hour reserved exclusively for them at a gym in central Kabul.

All German productions and co-productions in Tokyo at a glance:

Competition
DOUBLE FREEDOM by Lisandro Alonso (CL/AR/LU/DE/GB, The Match Factory)
HEYSEL 85 by Teodora Ana Mihai (BE/NL/DE, Leitwolf Filmproduktion)
THE DIFFICULT BRIDE by Rubaiyat Hossain (FR/BD/PT/NO/DE, Tandem Production)
UNTIL THE DAY ENDS by Jelena Maksimović (RS/BG/SI/ME/HR/DE, Kelek Film)

World Focus Section
MY WIFE CRIES (MEINE FRAU WEINT) by Angela Schanelec (DE/FR, Blue Monticola)
THE DREAMED ADVENTURE (DAS GETRÄUMTE ABENTEUER) by Valeska Grisebach (DE/FR/BG/AT, Komplizen Film, New Matter Films)
DAU by Ilya Khrzhanovsky (DE/FR/SE, Phenomen Berlin, Essential Filmproduktion)
SIXTEEN MOMENTS OF MY LIFE by Albert Serra (FR/ES/DE, Weltfilm)
SLEEP NO MORE by Edwin (ID/SG/JP/DE/FR, In Good Company)

World Focus Section - Retrospective Ulrike Ottinger
THE BLOOD COUNTESS (DIE BLUTGRÄFIN) by Ulrike Ottinger (AT/LU/DE, Heimatfilm, Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion)
UNDER SNOW (UNTER SCHNEE) by Ulrike Ottinger (Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion, Ma.Ja.De Filmproduktion)
TICKET OF NO RETURN (BILDNIS EINER TRINKERIN) by Ulrike Ottinger (Autorenfilm-Produktionsgenossenschaft, Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion)

Women’s Empowerment Section
I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING (SELTEN WACHE ICH TRÄUMEND AUF) by Isabelle Stever (DE/UA, X-Filme Creative Pool)

Displacement Film Fund
SENSE OF WATER by Mohammad Rasoulof (IR/DE, Run Way Pictures)
SUPER AFGHAN GYM by Shahrbanoo Sadat (Adomeit Film)
WHISPERS OF A BURNING SCENT by Mo Harawe (SO/AT/DE, Lost Frames Films)

Youth
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JO: CHAPTER PHAEDRA by Jacqueline Lentzou (GR/DE/FR, Kelek Film)