SEVEN world premieres will be among the films competing in the main competition at Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), the organizers announced at the line-up press conference Thursday. Fourteen films, reduced from the 16 of recent years, will compete for the Grand Prix, including “Advantages of Travelling by Train” from Spain’s Aritz Moreno, “Disco” from Norway, Turkey’s “Food for a Funeral” and “Only the Animals” from France’s Dominik Moll. Japan will be represented by two films, as has been the recent custom at TIFF, Shin Adachi’s “A Beloved Wife,” and Macoto Tezka directing “Tezuka’s Barbara,” based on the book by his father, legendary manga and anime creator Osamu Tezuka (“Astro Boy”). The jury for the main competition will be headed by Chinese star Zhang Ziyi and also features Hollywood producer Bill Gerber. Veteran director Yamada Yoji’s already announced “Tora-san, Wish You Were Here,” the reboot of his record-breaking “Tora-san” series, will open the fest. “The most difficult part was choosing which scenes from the 49 films to use to bring Tora-san back to the screen. Some people said I should use CG to do recreated him, but I didn’t want to do that. We used digital remastering and the images are very high quality,” said director Yamada at the press conference. The Asian Future section features eight films from up-and-coming directors, including two each from China’s Hong Kong, Iran and South Korea. Similarly, Japanese Cinema Splash will screen eight films from local directors. Other sections include Special Screenings, World Focus, Japan Now, Crosscut Asia and a showcase of Japanese auteur Nobuhiko Obayashi. The Evolution of Japanese Animation/VFX will show the Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal “Akira” and Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You,” among others. Of the 1,804 entries from 115 countries, 385 were directed by women or female-male teams. Eleven percent of the films selected had female helmers, compared with 21 percent of those submitted. The TIFFCOM content market will run from Oct. 22 to 24 at Ikebukuro Sunshine City, where a record 400+ exhibitors will ply their wares. The fest itself will unfurl the following week at Roppongi Hills, the new Hibiya Midtown complex and other venues from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5. The scheduling of the two events, which usually run concurrently, has been affected by the Enthronement Ceremony of Emperor Naruhito, which will bring dignitaries from around the world to Tokyo. Martin Scorsese’s Netflix postwar mob drama “The Irishman” will bring the festivities to a close Nov. 5. (SD-Agencies) | 