Lisandro Alonso was named best director for ‘Double Freedom,’ while Hu Ling and Narita Ryo took the acting prizes. Milcho Manchevski’s “Sister Brother Manhole Cover,” a comic allegory about two siblings who strip scrap metal from the streets of Skopje, won the Tokyo Grand Prix at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday. A jury headed by Rolf de Heer gave the top prize, which comes with JPY3 million ($19,000), to Manchevski’s first fiction feature since “Kaymak.” Victor and Marina make their living stealing manhole covers and copper busts.
Then a pilfered bronze bust of a national hero lands on Victor’s foot, and the pair tumble into the lowest depths of the North Macedonian capital. The film is a co-production between North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Italy and the U.K. The Special Jury Prize, worth JPY500,000 ($3,200), went to Sun Xun’s “Magic Atlas” from Singapore, an animated feature the Chinese-born artist spent about a decade making.
In it, an orphan inherits a magician’s book and uses it to recover the memories an authoritarian empire has buried. The animation moves from ink-wash painting to medieval European engraving. Lisandro Alonso won best director for “Double Freedom,” which the festival presents as a kind of sequel to his 2001 debut “La Libertad.” A solitary woodcutter’s life in the forest unravels when he has to take in his sister after her psychiatric facility closes.
The directing, acting and artistic contribution prizes each carry JPY300,000 ($1,900). Japan’s win in the main competition came in the acting category. Narita Ryo was named best actor for Mishima Yukiko’s “Two Cigarettes, Three Nights.” He plays a longtime friend who reconnects with a stalled Kyoto illustrator, played by Matsuoka Mayu, across three nights in three cities.
Best actress went to Hu Ling for Wang Jiangyong’s first feature, “The Night That Binds Us.” She plays a grieving Shanghai dormitory manager who falls for a younger student whose parents have been arrested on suspicion of fraud. Jelena Maksimović’s first feature, “Until the Day Ends,” took the award for best artistic contribution. In it, a student activist and a young government supporter take to the road together during Serbia’s 2024 protests.
The audience award, which carries no cash prize, went to Teodora Ana Mihai’s “Heysel 85.” The film recreates the 1985 Brussels stadium disaster, in which fan violence before the European Cup final killed 39 people. Rolf de Heer’s fellow competition jurors were producers Alex Lo and Oh Jungwan, actor Watanabe Makiko and colorist Yov Moor. In the Asian Future section, Tareq Daoud’s Swiss-Turkish “Serife Tavsan” won best film and JPY1 million ($6,300).
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