Palestinian Period Drama Wins Top Prize at Tokyo Film Festival

In a significant achievement, the Palestinian period drama Palestine 36 has been awarded the top prize at the recently concluded Tokyo International Film Festival. The film, which is Palestine's entry for the Best International Feature category of the Oscars, tells the story of the Arab revolt against British colonial rule in the 1930s. The Tokyo Grand Prix and Governor of Tokyo Award came with a cash prize of $19,500 (JPY3M).

Alongside this, the Special Jury Prize was presented to Rithy Panh's documentary We Are The Fruits Of The Forest. The film follows the Bunong people, the largest indigenous highland ethnic group in Cambodia, as they struggle to reconcile their traditional practices with the modern world. The award came with a cash prize of $3,300 (JPY500,000).

In a separate development, a $30M fund has been launched by a partnership between CJ ENM Hong Kong, Taiwan's Far EasTone Telecom, and TVBS. The fund will be used to invest in Mandarin-language content, further strengthening the region's creative ecosystem.