By Liza Foreman  Catherine Deneuve, Jesse Eisenberg and The Social Network scribe Aaron Sorkin all made the trek tothe Japanese capital to join Asian glitterati on the Tokyo International FilmFestival’s green carpet, which snaked through a mass of neon-clad high-rises in Downtown Tokyo  to celebrate opening night.After speeches from the festival head Tom Yoda and top Japanese politicos, including the country’sminister for economics, industry and culture, who spoke about the country’s “CoolJapan” focus and a commitment to Japanese film and content, the  23rd Tokyo International Film Festival (October 23-31) is now officiallyunderway. This year, there is anewly expanded remit to include more of an international focus at both thefestival and market arm TIFFCOM. From a total of 832 titles submitted, fromsome 76 countries, 200 films have been selected to showcase during the ten-dayevent.

“When I showed "TheCompany of Wolves" here in 1985, it was definitely much more of a focus onup-and-coming directors,” said jury head Neil Jordan, following words from Yodaabout this being the year for the festival to “jump and soar” into a more global future. “Now it is taking a leap to become more international,”said Jordan.

The opening nighfilm, David Fincher’s Social Network, was well received and followed by aKimono-clad reception party at the Park Hyatt. Over the coming ten days, atJapan’s largest annual film event, fifteen films will vie for the spotlight inthe competition section. The competitiontitles are as follows -“And Peace on Earth”Directors: Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini / Italy (International Premiere)“Beautiful Boy”Directors: Shawn Ku / U.S.A (Asian Premiere)“Brighton Rock”Director: Rowan Joffe / U.K. (Asian Premiere)“Flamingo No.13”Director: Hamid Reza Aligholian / Iran (World Premiere)“If the Seed Doesn'tDie” Director: Sinisa Dragin / Romania=Serbia=Austria (World Premiere)“Intimate Grammar”Director: Nir Bergman / Israel (International Premiere)“The Invisible Eye”Director: DiegoLerman / Argentina=France=Spain (Asian Premiere)“Never Let Me Go”Director: Mark Romanek / U.K.=U.S.A. (Asian Premiere)“The Piano in aFactory” Director: Zhang Meng / China (Asian Premiere)“POST CARD”Directors: Kaneto Shindo / Japan (World Premiere)“Primary!” Director:Ivan Noel / Spain (World Premiere)“Sarah's Key”Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner / France (Asian Premiere)“Sketches of KaitanCity” Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri / Japan (World Premiere)“Zephyr” Director:Belma Bas / Turkey (Asian Premiere)