Tokyo Film Festival Unveils Competition Line-up With World Premieres From Garin Nugroho, Milcho Manchevski & Qiu Jiongjiong

Tokyo International Film Festival has announced its full line-up including the 15 features selected for its Competition section, seven of which are world premieres.

Indonesian filmmaker Garin Nugroho’s historical drama Red Before Dawn will be receiving its world premiere at the festival, along with Macedonian filmmaker Milcho Manchevski’s Sister Brother Manhole Cover, and two Chinese films – Wang Jiangyong’s The Night That Binds Us and Qiu Jiongjiong’s Fuxi: Four Tales Of Feasting.

Three Japanese features will also be world premiering at the festival – Akira Ikeda’s Taiwan-Japan co-production The Canary’s Lullaby, Akira Yamamoto’s The Intertwining and Yukiko Mishima’s Two Cigarettes, Three Nights.

The Asian Future competition for rising talents has selected ten titles, including Jani Be Good, directed by Indonesia’s Ariani Darmawan in her feature debut; Filipino filmmaker Katski Flores’s EDJOP, starring Elijah Canlas as the eponymous political activist; and two features from Iran – Soheil Karimi’s Silver and Navid Mohammadzadeh’s I’m Nothing Special Really (see full line-up for Competition & Asian Future below).

As previously announced, the festival will open with Zeze Takahisa’s Sukiyaki and close with Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony, while Godzilla Minus Zero has been set as the Centerpiece film. The festival has also reintroduced its Crosscut Asia section, dedicated to Southeast Asian cinema, which will screen titles including Filipiñana, Four Seasons In Java and Becoming Human.

The Gala Selection will screen 14 titles, including Christian Mungiu’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fjord, Yukiko Sode’s Cannes Un Certain Regard title All The Lovers In The Night, Martin McDonagh’s Oscars-tipped Wild Horse Nine, Sabu’s Arrested Memory and Wayne Wang’s Diary Of A Mad Old Man.

Other major sections at the festival include Nippon Cinema Now, which has introduced two new awards this year, World Focus, Animation, Women’s Empowerment, Special Screenings, Japanese Classics, Youth and the Asian Students’ Film Conference.

Guests at the festival will include Cate Blanchett, in town to support the Japan premieres of five short films supported by the Displacement Film Fund (DFF); Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and Japanese-Korean filmmaker Mipo O, who are both receiving the Kurosawa Akira Award; and Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer, who is heading the main competition jury.

Tokyo International Film Festival is taking place October 26-November 4, while the TIFFCOM contents market is scheduled for October 28-30.

TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026:

MAIN COMPETITION:

The Canary’s Lullaby (Taiwan, Japan)
Dir: Ikeda Akira
World Premiere

The Difficult Bride (France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway, Germany)
Dir: Rubaiyat Hossain
Asian Premiere

Double Freedom (Chile, Argentina, Luxemburg, Germany, UK)
Dir: Lisandro Alonso
Asian Premiere

Even If Hell Came (Italy)
Dir: Samuele Rossi
Asian Premiere

Fuxi: Four Tales Of Feasting (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Saudi, Qatar)
Dir: Qiu Jiongjiong
World Premiere

Heysel 85 (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany)
Dir: Teodora Ana Mihai
Asian Premiere

The Intertwining (Japan)
Dir: Yamamoto Akira
World Premiere

Magic Atlas (Singapore)
Dir: Sun Xun
Asian Premiere

Memories Of Prison (Portugal)
Dir: Sérgio Graciano
Asian Premiere

The Night That Binds Us (France, Hong Kong)
Dir: Wang Jiangyong
World Premiere

Red Before Dawn (Indonesia)
Dir: Garin Nugroho
World Premiere

Sister Brother Manhole Cover (North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Italy, UK)
Dir: Milcho Manchevski
World Premiere

Trees Are Watching (Turkey)
Dir: Bahman Ghobadi
Asian Premiere

Two Cigarettes, Three Nights (Japan)
Dir: Mishima Yukiko
World Premiere

Until The Day Ends (Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, Germany)
Dir: Jelena Maksimović
Asian Premiere

ASIAN FUTURE COMPETITION:

EDJOP (Philippines)
Dir: Katski Flores
International Premiere

I’m Nothing Special Really (Iran)
Dir: Navid Mohammadzadeh
World Premiere

Jani Be Good (Indonesia)
Dir: Ariani Darmawan
World Premiere

Miracle Summer (Japan)
Dir: Cai Ronglin
World Premiere

On The Heights (Korea)
Dir: Kim Hyun-min
World Premiere

The Paper Flower (India)
Dir: Chezhiyan
World Premiere

Saravah (Japan)
Dir: Kujiraoka Hironori
World Premiere

Serife Tavsan (Switzerland, Turkey)
Dir: Tareq Daoud
International Premiere