Clockwise from top left: 'Behemoth!,' 'Fjord,' 'The Beloved,' 'Wild Horse Nine,' 'Godzilla Minus Zero,' and 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.' Tokyo International Film Festival The Tokyo International Film Festival has revealed its full competition lineup for the 39th edition of Asia‘s largest film event.
As ever, the lineup is a mix of new features from Asia’s best auteurs, a sprinkling of Hollywood movies and projects from up-and-coming filmmakers.
As previously announced, the festival which runs from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4, will open with Zeze Takahisa’s music drama Sukiyaki and close with Yeon Sang-ho‘s zombie action horror film Colony. Sandwiched between those two gala screenings will be the centerpiece screening of Takashi Yamazaki‘s Godzilla Minus Zero.
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Other gala screenings include Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth!, Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, Michael Showalter’s Verity, Hiroshi Ando’s A Bouquet of Light for You, Sabu’s Arrested Memory, Kazuya Shiraishi’s Bye Bye Love: Detective Is in the Bar, Gavin Lin’s Sunshine Women’s Choir, Wayne Wang’s Diary of a Mad Old Man, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved, Yukiko Sode’s All the Lovers in the Night, Ryutaro Nakagawa’s Your Story – Kimi No Hanashi and Yoshiro Nagikawa’s The Tiger and Her Wings The Movie.
The main competition at Tokyo will feature 15 films, all competiting for the Tokyo Grand Prix/Governor of Tokyo Award. Among the world premieres in the main competition are Akira Ikeda’s The Canary’s Lullaby, Qiu Jiongjiong’s Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting, Akira Yamamoto’s The Intertwining, Wang Jiangyong’s The Night That Binds Us, Garin Nugroho’s Red Before Dawn, Milcho Manchevski’s Sister Brother Manhole Cover and Yukiko Mishima’s Two Cigarettes, Three Nights.
The Asian premieres among the competition lineup include Rubaiyat Hossain’s The Difficult Bride, Lisandro Alonso’s Double Freedom, Samuele Rossi’s Even If Hell Came, Teodora Ana Mihai’s Heysel 85, Sun Xun’s Magic Atlas, Sérgio Graciano’s Memories of Prison, Bahman Ghobadi’s Trees Are Watching and Jelena Maksimović’s Until the Day Ends.
The competition features only four female filmmakers (Rubaiyat Hossain, Teodora Ana Mihai, Yukiko Mishima and Jelena Maksimović) and somewhat unsurprisingly Japan boasts the most number of entries with three.
The animation offer at Tokyo is always strong and 2026 is no different, with new anime projects from the likes of Masanao Kawajiri and Shingo Natsume, and Japanese premieres for films like Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado’s Forgotten Island, Brenda Lígia and Edu Felistoque’s Amadeo and the Hypothetical New World, Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy, and Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya and Sávio Leite’s Son of a Bitch.
This year’s festival will also include a retrospective on the works of Japanese master filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi. In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Mizoguchi’s death, TIFF/NFAJ Classics—a collaboration between the National Film Archive of Japan and the Tokyo Film Festival— will present 13 films across 12 programs (all with English subtitles), with a particular focus on works that have undergone recent digital restoration. The full list of Mizoguchi films to be screened is below.
Tokyo also revealed the full lineup of films for its Asian Future, Nippon Cinema Now, Crosscut Asia+, World Focus and Women’s Empowerment sections.
The full lineup for the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival is below:
Opening, Closing and Centerpiece Screenings
Sukiyaki (Japan) dir. Zeze Takahisa Godzilla Minus Zero (Japan) dir. Takashi Yamazaki Colony (South Korea) dir. Yeon Sang-ho
Gala Screenings
Behemoth! (USA) – dir. Tony Gilroy Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (USA) – dir. Jane Schoenbrun Fjord (Romania/France/Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Finland) – dir. Cristian Mungiu Wild Horse Nine (USA) – dir. Martin McDonagh Verity (USA) – dir. Michael Showalter A Bouquet of Light for You (Japan) – dir. Hiroshi Ando Arrested Memory (Taiwan/Japan) – dir. Sabu Bye Bye Love: Detective Is in the Bar (Japan) – dir. Kazuya Shiraishi Sunshine Women’s Choir (Taiwan) – dir. Gavin Lin Diary of a Mad Old Man (USA) – dir. Wayne Wang The Beloved (Spain )– dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen All the Lovers in the Night (Japan) – directed by Yukiko Sode Your Story – Kimi No Hanashi (Japan) – dir. Ryutaro Nakagawa The Tiger and Her Wings The Movie (Japan) – dir. Yoshiro Nagikawa
Main Competition
The Canary’s Lullaby (Taiwan/Japan) – dir. Akira Ikeda The Difficult Bride (France/Bangladesh/Portugal/Norway/Germany) – dir. Rubaiyat Hossain Double Freedom (Chile/Argentina/Luxemburg/Germany/UK) – dir. Lisandro Alonso Even If Hell Came (Italy) – dir. Samuele Rossi Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting (Hong Kong/Taiwan/Japan/Saudi Arabia/Qatar) – dir. Qiu Jiongjiong Heysel 85 (Belgium/The Netherlands/Germany) – dir. Teodora Ana Mihai The Intertwining (Japan) – dir. Akira Yamamoto Magic Atlas (Singapore) – dir. Sun Xun Memories of Prison (Portugal) – dir. Sérgio Graciano The Night That Binds Us (France/Hong Kong) – dir. Wang Jiangyong Red Before Dawn (Indonesia) – dir. Garin Nugroho Sister Brother Manhole Cover (North Macedonia/Bulgaria/Serbia/Albania/Italy/UK) – dir. Milcho Manchevski Trees Are Watching (Türkiye)– dir. Bahman Ghobadi Two Cigarettes, Three Nights (Japan) – dir. Yukiko Mishima Until the Day Ends (Serbia/Bulgaria/Slovenia/Montenegro/Croatia/Germany) – dir. Jelena Maksimović
Kenji Mizoguchi Retrospective
Osaka Elegy (1936) Sisters of Gion (1936) The 47 Ronin (Part One, Part Two, 1941–42) The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939) YANG KWEI FEI (1955) New Tales of the Taira Clan (1955) Street of Shame (1956) Gion Bayashi (1953) Ugetsu (1953) The Water Magician (1933) Sansho the Bailiff (1954) A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)
Animation Selection
Amadeo and the Hypothetical New World (Brazil) – dir. Brenda Lígia, Edu Felistoque Cherry And Virgin (Japan) – dir. Kawajiri Masanao Forgotten Island (USA) – dir. Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado Ghost – End of Night (Japan) – dir. Natsume Shingo Grotesqqque (Japan) – dir. Nishigori Atsushi Iron Boy (France/Belgium) – dir. Louis Clichy Son of a Bitch (Brazil) – dir. Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, Sávio Leite Walking with Animators (France) – dir. Alexandre Poncet, Gilles Penso We Are Aliens (Japan) – dir. Kadowaki Kohei Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire (Japan) – dir. Nagaoka Chika Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom (Japan) – dir. Watanabe Kotono The Rose of Versailles (Japan) – dir. Yoshimura Ai
Asian Future Selection
EDJOP (The Philippines) – dir. Katski Flores I’m Nothing Special Really (Iran) – dir. Navid Mohammadzadeh Jani Be Good (Indonesia) – dir. Ariani Darmawan Miracle Summer (Japan) – dir. Cai Ronglin On the Heights (Korea) – dir. Kim Hyun-min The Paper Flower (India) – dir. Chezhiyan Saravah (Japan) – dir. Kujiraoka Hironori Serife Tavsan (Switzerland/Turkey) – dir. Tareq Daoud Shyrmauyq (Kazakhstan) – dir. Azamat Shargyn Silver (Iran) – dir. Soheil Karimi
Nippon Cinema Now Selection
Between Us (Japan) – dir. Matsumura Shingo Okinawa Saudade (Japan) – dir. Matsubayashi Yoju Kefi (Japan) – dir. Saito Kisin Earthlings in Love (Japan) – dir. Ueda Shinichiro silver express (Japan) – dir. Tanaka Miki Hinotama: Ball of Fire (Japan) – dir. Yaza Takenoshin Plastic Love! (Japan/Austria) – dir. Sybilla Patrizia, Clementine Nuttall Chihiro | Akemi (Japan) – dir. Natori Satoshi Yamazaki Riverside: Over an Actor’s Shoulder (Japan) – dir. Inudo Isshin
Women’s Empowerment Selection
Far from the Trees (Spain/Peru/Italy) – dir. Meritxell Colell Aparicio A Girl Unknown (China/France) – dir. Zou Jing I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (Germany/Ukraine) – dir. Isabelle Stever Lovers in the Blue Night (India/USA) – dir. Anuparna Roy The Meltdown (Chile/USA/Spain/Mexico) – dir. Manuela Martelli Super Lucky Girl (Japan) – dir. Yang Kaijing Truly Naked (The Netherlands/Belgium/France) – dir. Muriel d’Ansembourg
CROSSCUT ASIA+ Selection
Four Seasons in Java (Indonesia/France/The Netherlands/Norway/Saudi Arabia/Singapore/Poland) – dir. Kamila Andini Filipiñana (Singapore/UK/The Philippines/France/The Netherlands) – dir. Rafael Manuel Becoming Human (Cambodia) – dir. Ly Polen Small Hours of the Night (Singapore) – dir. Daniel Hui Behind the Flickering Light: The Archive (Indonesia) – dir. Hafiz Rancajale Turang (Indonesia) – dir. Bachtiar Siagian
World Focus Selection
The Dreamed Adventure (Germany/France/Bulgaria/Austria, 2026) – dir. Valeska Grisebach Hearing (Vietnam/Singapore, 2026) – dir. Lê Bảo Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors (The Philippines, 2026) – dir. Lav Diaz The Masque of the Red Death (USA/UK, 1964) – dir. Roger Corman My Wife Cries (Germany/France, 2026) – dir. Angela Schanelec The Road to Jericho (France/UK, 2026) – dir. Amos Gitai Sleep No More (Indonesia/Singapore/Japan/Germany/France, 2026) – dir. Edwin DAU (Germany/France/Sweden, 2026) – dir. Ilya Khrzhanovsky Flies (Mexico, 2026) – dir. Fernand Eimbcke La Bola Negra (Spain, 2026) – dir. Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi The Match (Argentina/Spain, 2026) – dir. Juan Cabral, Santiago Franco Sixteen Moments of My Life (France/Spain, 2026) – dir. Albert Serra Saccharine (Australia, 2025) – dir. Natalie Erika James Time and Tide (Australia, 2026) – dir. Vee Shi The Survival of Kindness (Australia, 2022) – dir. Rolf de Heer The Blood Countess (Austria/Luxembourg/Germany, 2026) – dir. Ulrike Ottinger Under Snow (Germany, 2011) – dir. Ulrike Ottinger Ticket of No Return (West Germany, 1979) – dir. Ulrike Ottinger A Dance with Rainbows (Taiwan, 2025) – dir. Lee Yi-shan The Grandmaster’s Gift (Taiwan, 2026) – dir. Chen Yi-jung Happily Ever After (Taiwan, 2026) – dir. Feng-i Fiona Roan To Be Ordinary (Taiwan, 2026) – dir. Lee Yun-chan Good Neighbors (Restoration) (Taiwan, 1962／2026) – dir. Lee Hsing Return of the Prodigal Son (Egypt/Algeria, 1976) – dir. Youssef Chahine Alexandria Why (Egypt/Algeria, 1978) – dir. Youssef Chahine Adieu Bonaparte (Egypt/France, 1984) – dir. Youssef Chahine An Egyptian Story (Egypt, 1982) – dir. Youssef Chahine Cairo Station (Egypt, 1958) – dir. Youssef Chahine Cairo, As Told by Chahine (Egypt, 1991) – dir. Youssef Chahine Alexandria Again And Forever (Egypt, 1989) – dir. Youssef Chahine Destiny (Egypt/France, 1997) – dir. Youssef Chahine
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