The first Tokyo FILMeX festival, launched as an art-house alternative to the more mainstream Tokyo International Film Festival, awarded its grand prize to Lou Ye's Suzhou River.

Film-makers who lent their support to the festival included jury chairman Arturo Ripstein and jury members Bela Tarr and Jafar Panahi. A special jury prize went to Hassan Yektapanah's Djomeh.

Describing several competition titles as "truly excellent", Ripstein said the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.

The festival, which ran December 16 to 24, is headed by Shozo Ichiyama, formerly a programmer for the Tokyo International Film Festival. Promotional support came from Office Kitano, the production company of filmmaker Takeshi Kitano and parent of the T-Mark talent office, where Ichiyama is a producer.