The 37th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the Kurosawa Akira Award.
 
The 2024 Kurosawa Akira Award will go to Japanese director Miyake Sho and Taiwanese director Fu Tien-yu. The award honors the renowned auteur’s legacy and ongoing influence. It is presented to filmmakers who have made waves in cinema and are expected to help guide the industry’s future. Last year, notable filmmakers Gu Xiaogang and Mouly Surya received the award. The 2024 selection committee consisted of Yamada Yoji, Narahashi Yoko, Kawamoto Saburo and TIFF Programming Director Ichiyama Shozo.
 

 
Miyake Sho completed the elementary course in fiction at the Film School of Tokyo, and began making feature films soon after graduating from Hitotsubashi University. In 2012, his film Playback, selected for the Locarno Film Festival’s Competition, won the Rising Director Grand Prix award at the 27th Takasaki Film Festival. In 2018, And Your Bird Can Sing (Japan Now section, 31st TIFF) was recognized by the 92nd Kinema Junpo Awards, while Small, Slow But Steady (Nippon Cinema Now section, 35th TIFF) was invited to the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2022. This year, All the Long Nights (2024) was presented in the Forum section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, and released in Japan and elsewhere.
 
The selection committee members cited the excellence of the internationally acclaimed Small, Slow But Steady and All the Long Nights, noting that Miyake’s ability to observe people and to expand small worlds was exceptional, and his gaze on human beings is reflected in the end of a film and the distance of his camerawork. Said the committee, “We present this award for his high level of technical skills incorporating traditional techniques, and for his promising future.”
 
Taiwanese filmmaker Fu Tien-yu studied Japanese literature at the National Chengchi University in Taipei and completed her Master’s degree at New York University. Starting her career as a novelist, she won several prestigious literary awards before turning to filmmaking. Under the encouragement of filmmaker Wu Nien-jen, she began writing film scripts. In 2009, she made her directorial debut with Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, followed by My Egg Boy in 2016. In 2023, she directed her third feature film, Day Off, which was three years in the making. With a diverse range of talents, Fu also makes music videos.
 
The selection committee members commented “We present her with this award in recognition of her continuing the tradition of the Taiwan New Cinema from the 1980s to the present day. Her 2024 film Day Off, was produced by Wu Nien-jen, who has written for Hou Hsiao-hsien, and offers a warm perspective on the lives of ordinary people.”
 
The Kurosawa Akira Award ceremony will be held at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo on November 5.
 
Comment from Miyake Sho
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the casts and crews I have had the privilege of working with. None of my films would have been what they are without each and every one of them. Unlike in the days of the major studio system, we all work as freelancers and come together to make films for each project. Sometimes we have to switch members, but I feel that filmmaking as a team is gradually taking shape. Receiving this award is a reminder to our team to keep going. I would also like to thank the members of the selection committee and the Tokyo International Film Festival. Thank you very much.
 
Comment from Fu Tien-yu
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival for this honor. I have learnt from the works of respected directors Kurosawa Akira and Yamada Yoji, a member of the selection committee, that films have the power to portray human nature. And I believe that film can transcend language and time and make people feel a sense of understanding and healing. This award is like an affirmation for me and it is a dream come true to be able to be part of the amazing world of filmmaking with the name of the great Kurosawa Akira. I would like to thank the Tokyo International Film Festival from the bottom of my heart.
 
『感謝37屆東京國際電影節給予我這麼大的榮譽。一直以來，從尊敬的黑澤明導演、評選委員山田洋次導演的作品，我學習了電影具備描繪人性的力量，相信電影能夠超越語言與時間，讓人感到被理解被療癒。
黑澤明賞對我而言像是一個確認，能夠與這個名字一同身處美妙的電影創作宇宙，像是作夢一般的榮幸。由衷感謝東京國際電影節。』
 

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Kurosawa Akira’s Favorite Films
TIFF will present masterpieces beloved by the world-renowned director during the festival.
 
The Great Dictator (Director: Charles Chaplin) 1940/125 min/USA
Breathless (Director: Jean-Luc Godard) 1960/90 min/France
Nostalghia (4K) (Director: Andrei Tarkovsky) 1983/126 min/ Italy, Soviet Union
The Time to Live, and the Time to Die (Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien) 1985/138 min/Taiwan
Seven Samurai (4K) (Director: Kurosawa Akira) 1954/207 min/Japan