Cate Blanchett is set to attend the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival for the Japanese premieres of five shorts backed by her Displacement Film Fund.
They include shorts by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and Afghanistan’s Shahrbanoo Sadat, who will both join a Q&A session with Blanchett after the films are screened on October 30.
Co-founded and led by Blanchett, DFF was established last year to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic stories focused on the experiences of displaced people. It is backed by International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)’s Hubert Bals Fund.
“In a world where conflict and persecution are driving displacement and division, cinematic storytelling has a vital role to play in connecting with the experiences of others,” said Blanchett. “Being displaced shouldn’t mean filmmakers abandon their creativity; in fact their stories may feel even more urgent.”
The films include Sense Of Water by Rasoulof, who won several prizes at Cannes in 2024 with The Seed Of The Sacred Fig and is a Berlinale Golden Bear winner for 2020’s There Is No Evil.
Sadat will present Super Afghan Gym, set in downtown Kabul where a group of housewives gather at a gym during the only hour of the day reserved for women. Her most recent feature, No Good Men, was the opening film of this year’s Berlinale.
The selection also includes Allies In Exile by Syria’s Hasan Kattan, who was cinematographer on Oscar-winner The White Helmets; Rotation by Ukraine’s Maryna Er Gorbach, who won a directing award at Sundance in 2022 with Klondike; and Whispers Of A Burning Scent by Somalia’s Mo Harawe, whose debut feature The Village Next To Paradise played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2024.
The screenings will take place in the same week that Blanchett is to be honoured in Tokyo with the Praemium Imperiale Award for her achievements in film and theatre. The prize, awarded annually by the Japan Art Association, is known as the Nobel Prize of the arts.
TIFF’s 39th edition is set to take place from October 26 to November 4.
No comments yet