The 28th Tokyo International Film Festival opened at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo on October 22 with about 300 guests dazzling the red carpet. The audiences were especially impressed to see Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank, who came to Japan as the star of the Special Screenings section You’re Not You. Swank, draped in a long white dress, had a gentle smile on her face. She shook hands firmly with director general of the festival Yasushi Shiina, saying how happy she was to be in such a beautiful city, and what a privilege it was to be there, calmly waving at fans lining the carpet.

Yuko Takeuchi and Ai Hashimoto who starred together in The Inerasable, which was selected for the Competition section, spent for the whole time having a great time with their fans. Takeuchi, attending the festival’s opening ceremony for the first time in 8 years since Midnight Eagle, confessed that she could barely watch the preview to the end, at which point director Yoshihiro Nakamura jumped in with “so that’s why she hasn’t seen the final 5 minutes”. The other Hashimoto made an appearance for the second year in a row, following the closing screening of Parasyte last year. Although giving an embarrassed smile, she said that she is fairly insensitive to difficulty, and enjoys seeing the words on the script come to life.

Leading actors in Something Like Something Like It Kenichi Matsuyama and Keiko Kitagawa were both on the TIFF red carpet for the first time. “I didn’t think it would be exciting as this!” said Kitagawa. She smiled as she said how exciting it was to be able to interact with her fans. Matsuyama also said that he thought the Tokyo’s festival had an air of excitement that matched festivals in other countries. “Tokyo’s one is really amazing! I can feel the energy in the air” he said, sounding full of energy. Tsubasa Honda, the heroine of the closing film TERMINAL appeared in a glamorous kimono. She showed every confidence in her escort, the leading actor Koichi Sato. “He is incredibly kind and very dependable. I am glad we were able to walk the red carpet together.” She also gave us her personal opinions on how the film turned out, saying it was a very Japanese film, and that she learned a lot from it, and was able to grow as an actress.

Joichiro Tatsuyoshi from Joe, Tomorrow – 20 years with Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, a Legendary Boxing Champ (Panorama section) was a personality who stood out. When he appeared with director Junji Sakamoto, not small male fans standing alongside the carpet gave a huge cry “Tatsuyoshi!” Fans were delighted they could see him just as striking as he did in his boxing days. Making her debut appearance in Ghost Theater (Masters of J-Horror), actress Haruka Shimazaki admitted she was a little nervous. Even so, director Hideo Nakata was able to get her to relax, saying “My dear, you look really have the image of an angel with that dress!” praising her white outfit.

Guests gracing the red carpet were as follows. (Not in order)

Hilary Swank, LiLiCo, Kazuaki Kiriya, Takeshi Ihara, Maika Yamamoto, Kodai Asaka, Sugi-chan, Jacques Cluzaud, Tsurube Shofukutei, Fumino Kimura, Keita Amemiya, Sayaka Akimoto, Kenta Suga, Michio Koshikawa, Maho Yamada, Satoru Kawaguchi, Yukino Kishii, Taiga, Mei Kurokawa, Brillante Ma Mendoza, Isao Yukisada, Sotho Kulikar, Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, Junji Sakamoto, Perfume, Denden, Rikiya Imaizumi, Ren, Fumiko Aoyagi, Hanae Kan, Koji Fukada, Bryerly Long, Hirofumi Arai, Nijiro Murakami, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Mamoru Miyano, Hideo Nakata, Haruka Shimazaki, Sora Aoi, Kaori Mochida, Ichiro Ito, Sion Sono, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sakura Ando, Momoko Ando, Masato Harada, Koji Yakusho, Kenichi Matsuyama, Keiko Kitagawa, Isao Bito, Yoshihiro Nakamura, Yuko Takeuchi, Ai Hashimoto, Yoshiyuki Tomino, GACKT, Kohei Oguri, Jo Odagiri, Miki Nakatani, Helen Mirren, Bryan Singer, Tran Anh Hung, Kazuki Omori, Koichi Sato, Tsubasa Honda, Tetsuo Shinohara, and Robert Zemeckis.

The news provided by eiga.com