The Tokyo International Film Festival kicked off its 33rd edition Saturday with an abbreviated red carpet and a series of photo ops featuring Japanese stars separated by plexiglass dividers.
Representatives of the global film community, meanwhile, including Robert De Niro, Christopher Nolan and Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux, beamed into the event via a series of video messages wishing the festival well amid the challenges of COVID-19.
Local film figures turned out in force for the opening ceremony, reflecting organizers' determination to forge ahead with a grandly staged physical event despite the myriad health and safety restrictions that have made the 2020 festival a downsized, mostly domestic occasion. “Since spring,.