The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is proud to collaborate for the seventh year with Children Meet Cinema, which runs youth filmmaking workshops, on TIFF 2023: Teens Meet Cinema, a production workshop for teens. A special project of the festival’s Youth Section, it strengthens one element of TIFF’s goal to foster a future for film and to cultivate young talent and cinema enthusiasts.
 
This year’s lead mentor will be director MARIKO Tetsuya, who stunned the world with his feature films Miyamoto and Destruction Babies.
 
Students will gather in Chiyoda City, also the site of TIFF’s main venues, to participate in the workshop. With Mariko overseeing them, they will develop a script, shoot and edit a film assisted by professional crew. The completed film will have its world premiere at the 36th TIFF, to be held from October 23 to November 1 in the Hibiya-Yurakucho-Marunouchi-Ginza area of Tokyo. This year, an international symposium on the future of film education will also take place during TIFF for the first time since the collaboration began, with leading experts from around the world who run filmmaking workshops for children.
 
Applications are open from June 12 to July 14 on TIFF’s website.
Please find more details on the program here (in Japanese only).
 

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MARIKO Tetsuya
Film director, born in Tokyo in 1981. Mariko studied at Hosei University and Image Forum Institute of the Moving Image. His graduation Super-8 short films, The Far East Apartment (2003) and Mariko’s 30 Pirates (2004) won the Grand Prix at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival as well as the Grand Prix for two consecutive years at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. He received a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, and his graduation film Yellow Kid (2009) was presented at Vancouver International Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and San Sebastian International Film Festival. His second feature, Destruction Babies (2016), won the Best Emerging Director award at Locarno Film Festival, Silver Balloon Award at the Nantes Three Continents Film Festival, six awards at the Yokohama Film Festival, and others. Miyamoto (2019) won the Nikkan Sports Film Award, the Blue Ribbon Award, and the Best Director Award at the Takasaki Film Festival. Recent works include Mayday (2020), an omnibus film about daily life during the pandemic, set in 22 locations in 14 countries, and the short film Coyote (2022).

Comment from Mariko Tetsuya
When I was in primary school, I used to watch films with my father that he had recorded from television. He took me to cinemas and watching films there became a special experience for me. I started renting videos at my local video rental store when I was in junior high school, and by the time I was in high school, I began to understand my own taste in film. At university, I made friends with whom I could discuss films for the first time and spontaneously started making short films with the film club’s 8mm camera. These are still the best films I’ve made. Film is diverse and there is no right or wrong in it, and that makes it interesting. Every film has its strengths, and sometimes the crazy ones can be the great ones. I am thrilled to be able to learn and explore the depths of film with teen creators during their summer holidays.

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TIFF 2023: Teens Meet Cinema
Workshop dates: 8 days (August 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10)
Participants: Junior high school students (Maximum enrollment: 18)
Fee: Free *DVD including the making-of documentary and booklet: 6,000 JPY
Place: Venues in Chiyoda City and nearby area (TBA)
 
Organized by: Unijapan　(36th Tokyo International Film Festival Executive Committee)
Co-organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Project organization: Children Meet Cinema
For further inquiry: teens_meet_cinema@tiff-jp.net
 

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Comment from DOHI Etsuko, Representative of Children Meet Cinema
There is no “right answer” in film. There is only “conviction,” which is the judgment of everyone on the team as to what is the best answer. The workshop participants will think, communicate and make decisions on their own without adult interference. By meeting filmmakers, they will experience “what a film is” from their serious perspective and attitude toward filmmaking. The mentor and staff members will watch over, support and acknowledge the students. It will be a great confidence-booster for them to experience filmmaking. For impressionable junior high school students, the experience of creating a film “that cannot be completed without interacting with others” and “confronting oneself” will be of great significance in their lives. TIFF 2023: Teens Meet Cinema is a career training program that will also cultivate communication skills and above all, provide a great opportunity for the teens to grow as human beings.

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Children Meet Cinema kodomoeiga.com
Children Meet Cinema produces filmmaking workshops at schools and
organizes symposia to promote a bright future for children and film.