Tokyo Film Festival Jury Gets Real About What 'A-List' Even Means

Film festivals talk a big game about being "prestigious," but what does that really mean? The Tokyo Film Festival jury just had that exact argument in public, and it was messy in the best way.

Rolf de Heer held court with Yov Moor, Oh Jungwan, Makiko Watanabe, and Alex C. Lo, and these aren't people who play nice. When a room full of serious filmmakers starts debating what makes a film worthy of top honors, egos collide. You get real conversations—not press-release talk.

The tension around "A-list" status says something real about film culture right now. Everyone's got different measures for what matters: prestige, innovation, audience reach, artistic risk. A jury room is where those collisions happen, and apparently Tokyo wasn't pretending to agree when they didn't.

This is why festival juries matter. It's not about the trophies—it's about seeing smart people actually fight for what they believe cinema should be. That's the only conversation worth having.

Read the full story at The Hollywood Reporter → https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tokyo-film-festival-2026-jury-press-conference-1236740519/