Rolf de Heer to lead Tokyo film festival international jury

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Rolf de Heer, an Australian filmmaker with a four-decade career based in Tasmania, has been appointed to chair the international competition jury at the Tokyo International Film Festival's 39th edition. The selection recognises a prolific creative figure whose work has achieved sustained recognition across the world's major film festivals.

De Heer's early career proved influential, particularly through Bad Boy Bubby (1993), which claimed both the Special Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Award at Venice. His subsequent work has garnered four official selections at Cannes, including Ten Canoes (2006), which won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category. Collaborations with Indigenous Australian actor David Gulpilil proved especially productive; Charlie's Country (2013) earned Gulpilil the Cannes best actor award. Other career landmarks include Dingo (1991), featuring jazz musician Miles Davis, and Alexandra's Project (2003), which secured Helen Buday a San Sebastian best actress award following its Berlin Film Festival competition screening.

De Heer's 2022 work The Survival of Kindness, which competed at the Berlinale and won the FIPRESCI Prize, will screen in Tokyo as part of an Australia Spotlight programme—a dedicated showcase of contemporary Australian cinema presented with the Australian Embassy in Japan.

De Heer acknowledged the appointment as both privilege and responsibility, noting that his directing schedule limits opportunities to experience films theatrically. He observed that the jury role obliges him to engage with the competition's fifteen international entries. Festival director Takeo Hisamatsu praised de Heer's decades spent expanding cinema's possibilities, expressing anticipation for his distinctive perspective on the programme. The festival operates 26 October through 4 November, with the industry market TIFFCOM running 28-30 October.

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