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Veteran Japanese filmmaker Yoji Yamada is to receive the lifetime achievement award at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).
The 94-year-old director, perhaps best known for his Toro-San series of films and Oscar-nominated The Twilight Samurai, will also present his latest feature Tokyo Taxi as the TIFF Centrepiece title at the festival. The drama is an adaptation of 2022 French film Driving Madeleine and marks Yamada’s 91st feature. It is set for a local release on November 21.
The filmmaker will also take part in an on-stage discussion with Kokuho director Lee Sang-il at the festival’s TIFF Lounge.
Since making his directorial debut with Nikai No Tanin in 1961, Yamada has spent more than half a century making films deeply rooted in the culture and everyday lives of ordinary people in Japan.
His beloved Tora-san series comprises 50 out of his 91 film credits and has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest-running film series starring the same actor, Kiyoshi Atsumi.
From the 2000s onward, Yamada ventured into new territory with period films. The Twilight Samurai was nominated for best foreign language film in 2004 – Japan’s first in 22 years – and won 15 Japan Academy Awards. Follow-up The Hidden Blade screened in Competition at the Berlinale in 2004.
He further competed at Berlin with Kabei: Our Mother in 2008 and closed the festival in 2010 with About Her Brother, winning the Silver Bear in 2014 with The Little House.
TIFF chairman Hiroyasu Ando said: “Yamada Yoji has long observed the realities of Japanese society with a discerning yet compassionate eye, crystallizing them into numerous cinematic masterpieces over the decades. Above all, he possesses a profound love of cinema and has consistently maintained a wide-ranging interest in films from both Japan and abroad, past and present, while demonstrating a deep commitment to the future of the medium. He has also devoted himself to nurturing younger generations of filmmakers. His outstanding contributions to the advancement of cinematic art have earned him the highest admiration and respect.”
Yamada has supported TIFF since its inception and most recently served as chair of the Kurosawa Akira Award jury.
As previously announced, Japanese actress Sayuri Yoshinaga – who has appeared in several of Yamada’s films – will also receive a lifetime achievement award. She stars in TIFF opening film Climbing For Life as Junko Tabei, the became the first woman to summit Mount Everest.
The 38th TIFF is set to run from October 27 to November 5.
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