Korean director Lee Chang-dong, 53, will head the jury for the international film festival TOKYO FILMeX 2007, which will take place from Nov.17 to 25 in Tokyo, Japan.
His film, "Secret Sunshine" (2007), which garnered him and his lead actress the Best Actress recognition at the Cannes Film Festival, is expected to be screened as the closing film of the Tokyo film festival. "Secret Sunshine" is currently lined up to make appearances at the New York Film and the London Film festivals. And next year, the film will take its chances at the Oscars in the foreign language film category.
TOKYO FILMeX, which took off in 2000, is an annual international film festival that aims to present the best contemporary independent cinema from Asia, stringently selecting works that are noted for originality and creativity.
Apart from the competitive section there will be special screenings of new films by prominent filmmakers from around the world. Each year there is also a special program that does retrospectives on two or three filmmakers from participating countries. Included will also be a symposium that involves panel discussions with participating critics, festival directors and filmmakers.
"I'm honored to accept to the role as chairperson of the jury for the film festival", Lee said. "I believe that films are a culture that we share and I hope this (film festival) will be an opportunity to reflect on wonderful encounters and the beauty of life through films".
Lee, also a former Minister of Culture, previously directed three widely acclaimed films, "Green Fish", (1997) "Peppermint Candy" (1999) and "Oasis" (2002).
Specific details on the screenings and festival guest will be announced at a press conference next Wednesday.
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