12th Tokyo International Film FestivalOctober27-November7,1999

The subsidy program that began in 1995 targeting young Japanese film directors supported works like "Donten seikatsu," by Nobuhiro Yamashita the same year. The program was expanded into the Tokyo Film Creators Forum targeting not just young directors but filmmakers in Japan and other Asian countries as well.

Special programs for this year's TIFF focused on filmmakers from around the world. Cinema Prism presented special features on Amos Gitai, Alexander Dovzhenko, and Robert Bresson.

"Nippon Cinema Masters" saw Kon Ichikawa, Masahiro Shinoda, and Nagisa Oshima, who all just completed their latest films, choosing one film that they would like to show to people around the world.