Tokyo International Film Festival

Think of film festivals and chances are places like Cannes, Berlin and Venice immediately spring to mind. Tokyo, however, probably doesn’t-though by all rights, it should.

Believe it or not, the annual Tokyo International Film Festival, which opens Oct. 23 this year, ranks among the world’s 12 major film festivals. It’s not a household name because it has never had a strong identity. Since its establishment in 1985, the festival has had a heck of a time pleasing the public, let alone the film industry.