The 27th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) aimed to highlight Japanese animation movies, and held special screenings titled, "The World of Hideaki Anno" which showcased the works of Hideaki Anno, one of the most prominent filmmakers in Japan, at the festival in Tokyo between October 24 and 30. The screenings included approximately fifty works that Anno has been involved in, including TV anime series, short films, TV commercials, and music videos.

Five talk sessions which featured Anno himself accompanied the screenings, and included some of his most memorable moments in his 30 plus year career as an amateur filmmaker, animator, and director as well as Anno's thoughts on how forerunners such as Hayao Miyazaki have influenced him. Although he has directed many films, Anno revealed that he had always thought of himself as more suitable for the "No. 2 position in support of the director."

Anno also promised that he would do his best for the sequel of EVANGELION, which he described as his toughest project. He admitted that working on EVANGELION has made him feel like he was standing on the edge both physically and emotionally.

Anno remarked that when times got hard, he was encouraged by Hayao Miyazaki who told him to "take a rest until it feels right to create something again. Once you have accomplished a monumental work, both people and money will eventually gather again."

Before closing the final talk session, Anno reflected on his career saying, "Since I was a high school student, I have worked on numerous projects. I always wanted to try something new and different. As these screenings allowed me to look at my works retrospectively, I was able to reassure myself that something was always indeed different. This opportunity also gave me the strength to start working again. Now that I am over fifty, it is the time for me to give back to the animation, Tokusatsu (i.e."special effects"), and film production industries that trained and inspired me in filmmaking and contents creation."