Only days after actor-director Takeshi Kitano launched a rival festival of Asian and indie cinema, the region's leading film event the Tokyo International Film Festival is upping its focus on local films.

The festival, which runs October 28 to November 5, will showcase 16 films from Hong Kong in a focus on the former colony when it kicks off next month. Ekin Cheng's Tokyo Raiders will open the week of Hong Kong films.

High-profile fare screening during the focus includes Wong Kar-wai's In The Mood For Love.

Kitano's rival event Filmex 2000, which launches in December in Tokyo through the Japanese auteur's production, distribution and promotion operation Office Kitano, is seen as a backlash to increasing commercialism at the established festival.

The October event will open with the world premiere of The Sixth Day. The film's star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is expected to attend the screening.

Other titles confirmed for Tokyo's 13th edition include Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot, which has one of the special screening slots reserved for topical and entertaining pictures. Further sections at the event include the main competition and the Cinema Prism for Asian films.