International Competition Juries - Press Conference

345pm. Movie Cafe.
Event: International Competition Jurie
Present: Jon Voight (President of Jury), Michael Gruskoff, Huo Jianqi, Cesar Charlone,
Fumi Dan, Koji Takada

[Intro]

Jon Voight: It is a very extraordinary group of people that we have summoned for the jury and we are all very happy with each other and to be here in Tokyo for the International Film Festival. Also, we’ve been very warmly taken care of by the staff here.
When you make a film, an assembled family gets together—talented people—and they give you their most intimate feelings and their most personal thoughts. It is an honor to see this work. And then we have the difficulty of making decisions about awards. It’s a difficult job but it’s a great responsibility and we are all enjoying the process.

Cesar Charlone: It’s my first time in Japan and I’m very happy to be here. Also I’m very grateful that TIFF invited me and happy that we have such a good selection of films, which I’ve been having a good time watching.

Fumi Dan: It is a great honor to among such great filmmakers. In the beginning when I realized that I am actually with them, I felt quite small being among them. But they have welcomed me with such an open heart and we are truly one family here, with of course, one of the greatest boss that you can imagine, Mr. Voight! Now, we have spent time watching the films, but we haven’t talked to each other about what we feel about he films yet. I really look forward to that day when we have an open discussion about each film.

Michael Gruskoff: I feel great being here and I love watching movies! It is also a great pleasure to be a jury. I’ve been looking forward to TIFF ever since I came to Kyoto this August for the film festival, and I plan to enjoy myself for the next week.

Huo Jianqi: I have been to Tokyo countless times and I have a very deep relation with Tokyo in the sense that one of my films has been screened at TIFF in the Competition section. I have become friends with many filmmakers in Japan as well as with the Japanese people. It is my big honor to a wonderful feeling to be among such great members of the jury.

Koji Takada: As a representative of one of the filmmakers, I must say that all these years making films, whenever I had that chance to critique a film, I’ve always felt bad. But after making films for fifty years, I feel that maybe I ‘m ready to jump over to the other side to provide my judgment about films with other great judges. So far, we haven’t discussed any of the films yet, we’ve just gathered to listen to Mr. Voight’s humorous stories! But I look forward to the day we let all our thoughts and feelings about the films we watched.

How do you plan to go about with the judging process?
Voight: It’s going to be a very interesting dialogue. I don’t think it’s going to be about convincing each other, but a matter of us sharing our enthusiasm about different aspects of the film. We will come to a consensus that will be very specific.

What are your criteria for judging a movie?
Charlone: I want to see a film as an audience not as a filmmaker. I want the emotions to touch my heart.
Dan: When I see a movie, I’d like to think, “Boy! I wish I had that role!”
Gruskoff: The first thing is the story, then how the director interprets the story.
Jiangi: A good movie one that is so special that it grabs my heart and also one that is a stepping stone to my next film.
Takada: Since I’m a scriptwriter, it’s essential that a good film has a good story that brings a lot of emotions and excitement.