Juries 2023
International Competition
President of the Jury
Kazuya SHIRAISHI
Film Director（Japan）
Born in 1974, Hokkaido. In 2013, his film The Devil’s Path picked up an array of awards, including the Gold Prize at the Shindo Kaneto Awards. In 2018, he won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Director, as well as the Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director, for The Blood of Wolves and other films. The following year saw continued success, as A Gambler’s Odyssey 2020, Sea of Revival, and One Night earned him the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Director, and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists. After Lesson in Murder (22) and the streaming series Kamen Rider Black Sun (22), Shiraishi then made his first film on which he acted as producer, The Dry Spell (23). He released BUSHIDO in 2024. Shiraishi has a series scheduled for release on Netflix, The Queen of Villains; as well as a new film, Juichi nin no zokugun.
Jury Members
Miyako ARAKI
ASMIK ACE,INC., Division of Production, Producer (Japan)
After working as a production assistant on When the Rain Lifts (00), which received a special invitation to the 56th Venice Film Festival, her major production credits include The Professor and His Beloved Equation (05), Gravity’s Clowns (09), the gender role reversal Ooku series (which includes TV series) (10) (12), We Were There: First Love (12), We Were There True Love (12), The Pearls of the Stone Man (15), and Our Meal for Tomorrow (17). Senior General Manager in the Division of Motion Picture Production and Distribution at ASMIK ACE., Inc. for three years beginning in April 2020, and board member of the Foreign Film Importer-Distributors Association of Japan since 2022. Currently active both as a mentor to young filmmakers, and also as a producer of films, television shows, and streaming contents.
Miyuki TAKEI
President, Film Distribution Company Moviola（Japan）
In March 2000, she founded Moviola company that distributes a wide range of films, predominantly foreign art house works, from emerging directors and established masters of global renown. Their catalog features movies from auteurs such as Gu Xiaogang, Wang Bing, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mathieu Amalric, Arnaud Desplechin, and Frederick Wiseman. Forthcoming releases include Gu Xiaogang’s Dwelling by the West Lake (23), and Veit Helmer’s Gondola (23)
Japanese Film Competition
President of the Jury
Satoko YOKOHAMA
Film Director（Japan）
Film Director. Enrolled at The Film School of Tokyo after graduating from university. Her graduation project, Chiemi And Kokkunpatcho (05), was well-received, and Yokohama received support from Cineastes Organization Osaka to create the medium-length film German Plus Rain (06). Receiving the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award in 2007, she then made her commercial film debut in 2009 with Bare Essence of Life, starring Kenichi Matsuyama. She released Ito in 2021, for which she received numerous awards. Yokohama directed several episodes of A Town Without Seasons (written by Kankuro Kudo), currently distributed by Disney+. She has a new feature film scheduled for release in 2025.
Jury Members
Yohta KAWASE
Actor （Japan）
Born in 1969. Made his debut in Rubber’s Lover (96), directed by Shozin Fukui. Kawase has come to appear in many movies, ranging from pink films and independent productions to commercial cinema and TV dramas. In 2016, he won the Best Actor award at the 25th Japanese Professional Movie Awards for his performance in Masanori Tominaga’s Rolling (15). Recent films include A Muse Never Drowns (21), Amnesiac Love (21), Rageaholic (22), Yamabuki (22), Old School (22), Mountain Woman (22), Neighbor X (22), Good-Bye, Erymanthins (23), A Spoiling Rain (23), How to Find a Lover (23), and Between White Keys and Black Keys (23).
Meiske TAURISIA
Producer （Indonesia）
A film producer and film production educator from Indonesia, who has been co-running the film production company Palari Films since 2016. Her projects vary widely, ranging from independent to commercial films. Major production credits include Postcards from the Zoo (12), the first Indonesian film to be selected for screening in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (21), which won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival (both directed by Edwin). Taurisia also founded the Cipta Citra Indonesia Foundation, which focuses on programs supporting the independent film ecosystem in Indonesia, and mentors in film production, both domestically and internationally.
