"The Bloom of Yesterday" Wins Tokyo Grand Prix of 29th Tokyo International Film Festival

TOKYO, Nov. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), held from October 25 to November 3, concluded with the announcement of award winners at a closing ceremony. This year, TIFF screened 206 films and 60,589 film fans attended the screenings. The Tokyo Grand Prix was awarded to "The Bloom of Yesterday," directed by Chris Kraus of Germany. For the award winners in all sections, please see below.

(Photo1: From left: Tokyo Grand Prix winners Director Chris Kraus and Producer Kathrin Lemme, and Jury President Jean-Jacques Beineix (C) 2016 TIFF
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(Photo2: All winners of 29th TIFF (C) 2016 TIFF
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- Competition section
Tokyo Grand Prix: "The Bloom of Yesterday" (directed by Chris Kraus)
Special Jury Prize: "Sami Blood" (directed by Amanda Kernell)
Award for Best Director: Hana Jusic ("Quit Staring at My Plate")
Award for Best Actress: Lene Cecilia Sparrok ("Sami Blood")
Award for Best Actor: Paolo Ballesteros ("Die Beautiful")
Award for Best Artistic Contribution: "Mr. No Problem" (directed by Mei Feng)
Audience Award: "Die Beautiful" (directed by Jun Robles Lana)
WOWOW Viewer's Choice Award: "The Bloom of Yesterday" (directed by Chris Kraus)

- Asian Future section
Best Asian Future Film Award: "Birdshot" (directed by Mikhail Red)
Spirit of Asia Award by Japan Foundation Asia Center: Director Alankrita
Shrivastava ("Lipstick Under My Burkha")

- Japanese Cinema Splash section
Best Picture Award: "POOLSIDEMAN" (directed by Hirobumi Watanabe)

- SAMURAI Award: Director Martin Scorsese, Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa

- ARIGATO Award: Makoto Shinkai (Director), Mitsuki Takahata (Actress), Satoshi
Tsumabuki (Actor), Godzilla (King of Monsters)

Jury President Jean-Jacques Beineix wrapped up the ceremony as follows. "The 16 films that have been submitted cannot pretend to represent the cinema in its whole. They nevertheless give a striking view of it. Those films give a sizzling scope of the vision of moviemakers. Moviemakers are witnesses of their times -- we need them to enlarge our comprehension of the world. Through those 16 films we could feel anxiety, fear of exclusion, racism, pessimism, loneliness, need of justice, and acceptance of our differences. Our awesome differences are our common wealth. Through all those points of views, cinema teaches us how to respect each other and to design the need for a more tolerant world, more respectful of our customs, our singularities. A universal film does not exist but through its diversity, cinema contributes greatly to opening our minds and to express the beauty of humanity. It gives us a glimpse of a better world. Thank you."

Official website: 29th Tokyo International Film Festival: http://2016.tiff-jp.net/en/