THE 29th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which began its roll Tuesday, promises a canvas of ultra-modern stories focussing on the world today and its pressing problems. The director of the Competition Program, Yoshi Yatabe, told the media that one of the key subjects of this edition’s movies would be the challenges posed by refugees.

    There had been a dramatic increase in their numbers the world over, he averred. “These excellent films skillfully capture what is going on right now. That is the common thread of this year’s Competition ... We have a line-up of great directors from different parts of the world who understand what is going on in the present era.”

    This year, 203 films will be shown at the TIFF. The event will run through Nov. 3 at Roppongi Hills in Minato Ward, Tokyo, and other venues around Tokyo.

    Among the 16 titles in Competition are “7 Minutes” (about the dilemma of Italian factory workers urged to shorten their lunch break, a management demand that contradicts work-life balance), “The Bloom of Yesterday” (narrating the experiences of a German Holocaust researcher), “The Fixer” (telling us about a trainee journalist’s tryst with a major scandal), “Japanese Girls Never Die” (on the disappearance of a single girl) and “Paris Prestige” (about a political hip hop group).

    Two Chinese films are taking part in the Competition: “Shed Skin Papa” by Hong Kong director Roy Szeto and “Mr. No Problem” by mainland director Mei Feng.

    Outside Competition, there are works dealing with the still festering Arab Spring (“Clash”), the terror called Jihadi recruitment (“Heaven Will Wait”), home-grown terrorism (“Nocturama”) and the tsunami of illegal immigration (“From Nowhere”).

    India is not to be left behind. Young Indian director Alankrita Shrivastava will present her “Lipstick Under My Burkha.” It takes on what can be described as a terribly disturbing issue facing the Indian woman. Shrivastava deals with a modern woman’s quest to be herself, to enjoy a whiff of freedom. Shrivastava’s movie follows the lives of four women, each with her own dilemma.

    This year’s TIFF also presents two special programs featuring popular directors, Shunji Iwai and Mamoru Hosoda. Iwai’s early masterpiece, “Uchiage Hanabi Shitakara Miruka? Yokokara Miruka?” (“Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom?”), will be shown outdoors at the Roppongi Hills Arena on Friday.

    This is the fourth year of the Japanese Cinema Splash, a competition for independent films. The program also includes an all-night screening of indie films outside the competition.

    Asian Future, a competition for up-and-coming directors from Asian countries, is also in its fourth edition this year. Kenji Ishizaka, another programing director of the TIFF, said the rise of female directors is conspicuous in Asian countries.

    Crosscut Asia, a program jointly organized by the TIFF and the Japan Foundation’s Asia Center, focuses on Indonesian films.

    The TIFF and the center have co-produced the Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016: Reflections project, for which three directors jointly create omnibus films. The first three films under the project will be shown Nov. 3. A related symposium was held with Isao Yukisada and two other directors Thursday.

    Three films with young people as the protagonists are competing in the Youth division, which has been newly launched for this year’s festival.

    (SD-Agencies)