Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is pleased to announce that American film producer Edward R. Pressman will be president of the International Competition jury at the 24th TIFF. The other four members of the jury will be film producer Kees Kasander from Holland, actress Fan Bingbing from China, film director Masahiro Kobayashi from Japan, and special effects makeup artist Reiko Kruk from France. The 24th TIFF will be held from October 22-30, 2011 at Roppongi Hills and other ve...

Bashing, Masahiro Kobayashi, Japan (2005)From four time Cannes afficiondo Masahiro Kobayashi comes a film about a Japanese journalist held hostage in Iraq who returns home only to meet the scorn of her people. Coming to terms with the confinements of her upbringing in this brutal ostracization, she longs to return to the Middle East where she feels her life had meaning for the first time. The film evokes cross cultural references to hostage situations. In the case of Japan, Prime Minister Juni...