The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is pleased to announce that one of Asia’s most internationally acclaimed actors, Tony Leung, will serve as the President of the International Competition jury at the 37th TIFF.
 

 
TIFF Chairman Ando Hiroyasu expressed his delight that the renowned actor would be returning to TIFF again after last year’s wonderful masterclass and screening.
 
Tony Leung has an extensive list of awards throughout a career that began in the 1980s, and has gained international recognition for collaborations with director Wong Kar-wai, with whom he has worked on seven films including In the Mood for Love (2000), which earned him the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor Award, and 2046 (2004). He also appeared in three films that won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival: A City of Sadness (1989), directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Cyclo (1995), directed by Tran Anh Hung, and Lust, Caution (2007) by director Ang Lee. Leung also starred in the Academy Award-nominated film Hero (2002), box office hits Infernal Affairs (2002) and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). He has joined the cast of Silent Friend by Oscar-nominated Hungarian director Ildiko Enyedi. In 2023, he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 80th Venice Film Festival.
 
Leung first participated in the 13th TIFF in 2000, when his film In the Mood for Love was shown in the Special Screening section. He next joined us with his film Red Cliff: Part 1 at the 21st TIFF in 2008, walking on the “Green” Carpet with his fellow actors. He came back to TIFF for the first time in 15 years in 2023, to participate in a masterclass and screening of the film 2046 in the World Focus section.
 
Further announcements regarding Competition jury members and jury members for other sections will be made at later dates.
 

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Comment from Tony Leung
I am immensely honoured to be on the jury team at TIFF this year. Japan is close to my heart in more ways than one and to be involved in celebrating film in this way is a big deal for me. From the age of 12, growing up in Hong Kong, I remember going to see all the classic Japanese movies from that time. These exciting trips to the cinema were the start of a great love affair between Japanese film, people and its culture for me, that has just grown and grown. I’m already expecting the festival to be full of surprises and a lot of fun to preside over, I’m sure. What I hope is that it will be a bit of an adventure, with an audacious line up of quality films. I just, ‘feel’, when it comes to judging, trusting fellow jurors’ feelings as well as my own will make a positive contribution to the selection process.
 

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Comment from Ando Hiroyasu, Chairman of TIFF
We are very pleased and deeply honored that Mr. Tony Leung will be serving as Jury President for the International Competition at a time when TIFF is enhancing its presence as a leading film festival in Asia. Mr. Leung, who has an illustrious career as one of the world’s most critically lauded and internationally admired Asian actors, has participated in TIFF a few times in the past and has many fans in Japan. He will be a great addition to this year’s festival.
 

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Tony Leung Profile
Born in 1962, Tony Leung is one of Hong Kong’s leading actors. After appearing in TV dramas, Leung appeared in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A City of Sadness in 1989, and his performance as well as the film were highly acclaimed. Since then, he has worked with renowned directors including Wong Kar-wai for In the Mood for Love (2000), Zhang Yimou for Hero (2002), Andrew Lau for the Infernal Affairs series (2002-2003), and John Woo for Red Cliff (2008). In 2023, he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 80th Venice Film Festival.