The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival has unveiled its complete program, led by a 15-film main competition featuring work by Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, Japanese filmmaker Mishima Yukiko and Hong Kong-based Qiu Jiongjiong. The competition spans world and Asian premieres. Seven titles receive world premieres: “The Canary’s Lullaby,” a Taiwan-Japan co-production directed by Ikeda Akira; Qiu Jiongjiong’s “Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting,” produced across Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar; Yamamoto Akira’s Japanese drama “The Intertwining”; Wang Jiangyong’s France-Hong Kong co-production “The Night That Binds Us”; Nugroho’s “Red Before Dawn” from Indonesia; Milcho Manchevski’s North Macedonia-led ensemble “Sister Brother Manhole Cover”; and Mishima Yukiko’s “Two Cigarettes, Three Nights” from Japan.
The remaining eight competition titles arrive as Asian premieres. Lisandro Alonso’s Chile-Argentina co-production “Double Freedom” will screen alongside Teodora Ana Mihai’s Belgian soccer-disaster drama “Heysel 85,” Rubaiyat Hossain’s France-Bangladesh co-production “The Difficult Bride,” Samuele Rossi’s Italian film “Even If Hell Came,” Sun Xun’s Singapore title “Magic Atlas,” Sérgio Graciano’s Portuguese drama “Memories of Prison,” Iranian-Turkish director Bahman Ghobadi’s Turkey-set “Trees Are Watching” and Jelena Maksimović’s Serbian co-production “Until the Day Ends.” The Asian Future competitive section will present 10 titles, eight of which receive world premieres. They include Navid Mohammadzadeh’s Iranian film “I’m Nothing Special Really”; Ariani Darmawan’s Indonesian title “Jani Be Good”; Cai Ronglin’s “Miracle Summer” from Japan; South Korean film “On the Heights” by Kim Hyun-min; Tamil Nadu filmmaker Chezhiyan’s Indian entry “The Paper Flower”; Kujiraoka Hironori’s Japanese film “Saravah”; Azamat Shargyn’s Kazakh film “Shyrmauyq”; and Soheil Karimi’s Iranian drama “Silver.” Katski Flores’s Filipino title “EDJOP” and Tareq Daoud’s Switzerland-Turkey co-production “Serife Tavsan” will receive international premieres.
As previously announced, the Gala selection features Zeze Takahisa’s “Sukiyaki” as the opening film, while Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony” from South Korea takes the closing slot in a Japanese premiere. Yamazaki Takashi’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” serves as the centerpiece. Other Gala titles include Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!,” Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” Wayne Wang’s “Diary of a Mad Old Man,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved” and Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.” The Nippon Cinema Now section will spotlight nine Japanese films.
World premieres include Matsumura Shingo’s “Between Us,” Matsubayashi Yoju’s “Okinawa Saudade,” Saito Kisin’s “Kefi,” Ueda Shinichiro’s “Earthlings in Love,” Inudo Isshin’s “Yamazaki Riverside -Over an Actor’s Shoulder-” and “Plastic Love!,” co-directed by Sybilla Patrizia and Clementine Nuttall. The World Focus section features titles by Valeska Grisebach, Lav Diaz, Angela Schanelec and Indonesian director Edwin, plus a Taiwan Cinema Renaissance 2026 strand, an Australia Spotlight, a Youssef Chahine centenary retrospective and a tribute program for German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger. The Classics section will present 4K digitally remastered versions of Naruse Mikio’s “When a Woman Ascends the Stairs” and “Scattered Clouds,” alongside a Nikkatsu Roman Porno 55th anniversary retrospective and a TIFF/National Film Archive of Japan retrospective of Mizoguchi Kenji’s work.
Additional sections include Women’s Empowerment, Animation — which features a “Women Directors: Diverse Visions” strand — Crosscut Asia+ and Youth. Programming director Ichiyama Shozo leads the selection alongside senior programmer Ishizaka Kenji, who oversees Asian Future. The festival will run Oct. 26–Nov. 4 in Tokyo.
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