The Japan Foundation Asia Center and the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) together launched “CROSSCUT ASIA” last year to showcase Asian films at the festival focusing on particular countries, directors, actors, and themes. This year, as our second year, we will focus on Philippine films.

Following the success of the last year’s CROSSCUT ASIA #01 Thai Fascination, we are turning our attention to the cinema of the Philippines as it boasts a rich history and is said to be in the Third Golden Age* at this moment.

This year's CROSSCUT ASIA features a noteworthy lineup, including a special program of the works of director Brillante Ma. Mendoza, who won the Best Director award at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival with Kinatay. His new film TAKLUB is selected for Un Certain Regard section in the Cannes Film Festival this year. For more information, please contact us via any of the means as shown below.(PDF:215KB)
*The lineup of CROSSCUT ASIA #02 The Heats of Philippine Cinema are to be announced on the official website. (http://2015.tiff-jp.net)

*The Third Golden Age of Philippine Cinema
In the long history of Philippine cinema, the first Golden Age arrived in the 1950s, after the World War II. It is when major studios mass-produced entertainment films using popular stars and virtuosic directors created masterpieces. After a period of stagnation in the 1960s, the cinema of the Philippines entered its second Golden Age from the 1970s to 1980s, producing a series of hard-hitting masterpieces that concealed rebellious attitude. Indie filmmakers without ties to the film industry also appeared on the scene, including directors such as Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal, as well as the ‘father of Asian independent cinema,’ Kidlat Tahimik. Now, in the 21st-century era of digital filmmaking, young independent creators are appearing one after another, gaining worldwide attention through the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and other indie screenings. Brillante Ma. Mendoza, director of Captive, and Lav Diaz, director of From What Is Before, are regulars at major international film festivals, including Cannes. The third Golden Age of Philippine Cinema began around 2005, about the same time as Mendoza's debut, and has continued up to the present.