Australian Director Rolf de Heer Appointed Jury President for Tokyo Film Festival’s 39th Edition
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New coverage confirms that Australian director Rolf de Heer will preside over the International Competition jury at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, taking place from 26 October to 4 November. The appointment highlights his four-decade career and international reputation, while his 2022 film The Survival of Kindness will screen in the festival’s Australia Spotlight showcase.
De Heer’s acclaimed work includes Bad Boy Bubby, The Tracker, Ten Canoes and Charlie’s Country, with films selected for Cannes, Venice and Berlin. He will lead deliberations on at least 15 competition films from around the world; TIFFCOM, the festival’s contents market, will run from 28 to 30 October.
- Rolf de Heer will lead Tokyo’s International Competition jury.
- His film The Survival of Kindness will screen in Tokyo.
- The festival runs from 26 October to 4 November.
Full account
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.
Where outlets differ
Source 2 includes additional early films omitted by Source 1: The Quiet Room (1996), Dance Me To My Song (1998), and The King Is Dead! (2012)
Source 2 specifies that The Tracker (2002) was selected for Venice competition; Source 1 does not mention this distinction
Source 1 provides specific production credits (14 screenplays, 15.5 directing features, 16 fiction films, 5 documentaries produced); Source 2 omits these figures
Source 1 contextualises Australia Spotlight within TIFF's 'World Focus' lineup; Source 2 does not reference this programming structure
De Heer's quote is significantly expanded in Source 2, with more enthusiastic framing about experiencing global cinema and Tokyo's film culture; Source 1 emphasises the obligatory aspect of jury duties more soberly
Coverage
- Variety — Rolf de Heer Named President of Tokyo Film Festival Jury
- Deadline — Rolf De Heer To Head Competition Jury At Tokyo Film Festival; ‘The Survival Of Kindness’ To Play In Australia Spotlight