The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

Obayashi, who has helped define the legacy of Japanese filmmaking, is being honored at the Tokyo International Film Festival, opening Monday and running through Nov. 5. Among the Obayashi works being screened is his just-completed, three-hour "Labyrinth of Cinema," characteristically anti-war but also an homage to filmmaking. Obayashi recalled that Kurosawa, whom he lovingly called "Kuro-san," was aware of such points, and had remarked how Obayashi made from-the-heart films. Unlike many Hollywood movies, Obayashi's works lack an obvious plot of a hero fighting a villain. Like many Japanese films, they don't rely on an action-packed plot that drives toward a climactic resolution.