The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) will for the first time present a Green Carpet welcome ceremony to celebrities and film stars in the hope of conveying the message of environmental protection.

"We make films, but the Earth made us. We would like to appeal to as many people as possible the importance of environment," said Tom Yoda, chairman of the film gala.

Organizers of the 21st TIFF, scheduled for October 18 to 26, declared at a press conference on Thursday that this year's event will include several new activities with ecological themes.

Those activities also feature a symposium focused on the environment and a new award to an outstanding new film that gives due consideration to nature, the environment and ecology.

"One of the most urgent problems we now face is protecting the Earth's environment," Yoda said. "While many individual films have grappled with how to sustain our environment, no international film festival has yet stepped up to champion this issue."

"We hope our ideas will resonate far beyond the film community, contributing to the global conversation on our planet's future," he added.

A total of 690 films from 72 countries will vie in the TIFF's competition section. U.S. actor Jon Voight will serve as the president of the jury.

Chinese ancient epic Red Cliff will open the special screening section of the film festival, while Walt Disney's animation Wall-E will close the curtains of the section.

The TIFF, established in 1985, aspires to be recognized as one of the four best film festivals in the world - in the same league as Cannes, Venice and Berlin, which now stand at the summit of the more than 2,600 international film celebrations.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2008)