Japanese Master Filmmaker Yamada Yoji to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Tokyo Film Festival
The legendary director of The Twilight Samurai and Tora-san series will also premiere his new film Tokyo Taxi as TIFF 2025’s Centrepiece screening.
Veteran Japanese director Yamada Yoji, best known for his works in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series and Samurai Trilogy (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honour), will be commemorated with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).
Yamada's latest work, "Tokyo Taxi", inspired by the 2023 French drama " Driving Madeleine", has also been chosen as this year's TIFF Centrepiece film, marking yet another milestone in his illustrious career. The director will additionally engage in a live discussion as part of TIFF's Lounge talk series alongside filmmaker Lee Sang-il, known for "Kokuho".
Veteran actress Yoshinaga Sayuri, a long-time collaborator of Yamada, will likewise be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She stars in TIFF's opening feature, "Climbing for Life", a Junji Sakamoto-directed compelling biographical drama chronicling the extraordinary journey of Junko Tabei, the first woman to scale Mount Everest.
Yamada has directed 91 films over the course of his career, starting with his debut "The Strangers Upstairs" (Nikai no tanin) in 1961 and also including 50 films in the Tora-san series, which entered the Guinness World Records as the world’s longest-running film franchise and became a national institution in Japan, reports DEADLINE.
On announcing the award, TIFF chairman Ando Hiroyasu said: “Yoji Yamada has long observed the realities of Japanese society with a discerning yet compassionate eye, crystallising them into numerous cinematic masterpieces over the decades.
"Above all, he possesses a profound love of cinema and has consistently maintained a wide-ranging interest in films from both Japan and abroad, past and present, while demonstrating a deep commitment to the future of the medium. He has also devoted himself to nurturing younger generations of filmmakers. His outstanding contributions to the advancement of cinematic art have earned him the highest admiration and respect," added Hiroyasu.
TIFF 2025 will be running from October 27 to November 5.