Tokyo Film Festival Chairman Hiroyasu Ando said that the Tokyo Film Festival is ready to return to it’s full-scale film festival for the first time in three years. This is a large part due to Japan lifting their COVID-19 border restrictions on Oct. 11.

The previous two festivals were held strictly online. Ando said that having the event virtually was a learning process for them, but helped him realize that although they’re returning to in-person festivals, streaming the event on YouTube is essential to helping maintain and grow viewership across the world.

For this year’s festival, Ando announced that foreign guests will be welcomed back, the expansion of venues to fit the return of audiences, and the reintroduction of the Kurosawa Akira Award after 14 years. The Kurosawa Akira Award is an award that pays honor to filmmakers that make major contributions to cinema all around the world, just as the Akira did. The returning award will belong to the award will go to  Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Fukada Koji.

The three venues that held the 2021 edition – the Hibaya, Yurakucho, and Ginza Areas – will also hold the 2022 festival, with the addition of  the Toho Cinemas Hibiya, Marunouchi Toei and Marunouchi Piccadilly, to fit the return of full-scale audiences. The expansion of venues allows the festival show 111 films at their nine sections, rather than the 86 films they showed last year.