"Adiwiraku" (My Superheroes) which bagged triple awards at the 29th Malaysia Film Festival recently will be screened at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF 2017), this month.

This was disclosed on the TIFF's 2017 official website.

"Adiwiraku" won the main prize of Best Film, Best Original Story and Best Actress at the 29th Malaysia Film Festival which took place at the Putra World Trade Centre on Sept 23.

The drama, produced and directed by Eric Ong, was inspired by the real-life story of students at SMK Pinang Tunggal in Baling, a rural area in Kedah.

Sangeeta Krishnasamy won the Best Actress title for her role of a teacher, Cheryl, who is assigned to a school in the rural area and who inspired her students to participate in an English recital contest.

Its executive producer and screenplay writer, Jason Chong, won the Best Original Story award.

The TIFF 2017 which runs from Oct 23 to Nov 3 will be held at Rappongi Theatre in Tokyo where thousands of filmmakers, film fans, professionals, students, as well as business people and content buyers from around the globe will gather for the prestigious annual event.

This year marks the 30th edition of TIFF, the only Japanese film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Association.

TIFF 2017 will feature competitions in various categories, inviting participation from around the world, such as in the Official Competition (International, Asia International, Japan), the environmentally-themed Save the Earth! Competition, Music Video Competition, which presents unique official MVs from around the world, and the cutting-edge CG Animation Competition.

A Best Short Award is awarded for each of the three categories in the Official Competition, and the Grand Prix is chosen from among these winners.

The film that wins the Grand Prix will be eligible for nomination at the annual Academy Awards in the United States the following year.

There will also be submissions for the Cinematic Tokyo Competition, which showcases films about Tokyo and that popularise the Tokyo Brand; a tourism initiative to promote business enterprises in the Tokyo Metropolis as well as Branded Shorts, a strand of the festival that presents a lineup of the latest branded movies produced by corporations and government bodies.

Shorts Film Festival

A total of 50 short films from various countries will be shown in each of the free 90-minute programme .

-- BERNAMA