21st Tokyo International Film Festival opens with Aso in attendance+

TOKYO, Oct. 18 Kyodo - The 21st Tokyo International Film Festival opened Saturday in Tokyo with
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso among around 300 guests who walked the ''green
carpet'' ahead of the opening ceremony in the Roppongi Hills district.
Takeshi Kaneshiro, who divides his time between Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japanese
films, and Hong Kong's Tony Leung joined the gala of actors, directors and
others involved in some of the 315 films from around the world that will be
shown during the nine-day event.
At the ceremony, Aso joked that he seems to be better known in Japan as a manga
comic geek than as prime minister, while noting the similarities between comics
and films which move people in various ways.
The green carpet made from recycled plastic bottles, which has replaced the
traditional red carpet, exemplifies the theme of this year's festival,
''Ecology = Preservation of Earth's Environment,'' according to organizers.
Kicking off the series of screenings Saturday evening was ''Red Cliff,'' a
Chinese epic directed by John Woo, the director of ''Mission: Impossible 2,''
and starring Leung and Kaneshiro. The film is among 19 works in the special
screening section of the festival.
A total of 15 films -- selected from 690 films from 72 countries and
territories -- have been entered in the main competition section for the Tokyo
Sakura Grand Prix and other awards, whose recipients will be selected by an
international jury headed by Academy Award-winning U.S. actor Jon Voight. The
results will be announced Oct. 26.
The films in the festival will be shown at main venues in Roppongi Hills in
Minato Ward and Bunkamura in Shibuya Ward, as well as other locations in Tokyo.
==Kyodo