The Tokyo International Film Festival commenced on October 26 with its opening ceremony and red carpet event in Tokyo’s Hibiya district. Despite rainy weather, the gathering drew prominent Japanese performers including Tadanobu Asano, Junichi Okada, Kento Nakajima, Mei Nagano, and Takumi Kitamura, alongside international industry figures such as Bill Kramer from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The festival runs through November 4 and will feature 204 films from 112 countries and regions, including 35 world premieres. Screenings center around Tokyo’s Ginza district, with the accompanying content market TIFFCOM scheduled for October 28-30. A high-profile screening of Toho’s Godzilla Minus Zero is planned as the festival’s centerpiece film on November 1. The competition program comprises 15 films selected for assessment by a five-member jury headed by Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer, alongside producers and industry professionals from South Korea, the United States, and Japan, plus an international colorist.
The opening ceremony, held at Hulic Hall Tokyo, featured Kento Nakajima as host and festival navigator. Takeo Hisamatsu, a veteran industry professional with nearly 50 years of experience, returned as festival director. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivered a video message emphasizing cinema’s role in connecting people across cultures, while announcing government initiatives to expand Japan’s overseas content sales to 20 trillion yen by 2033.
The festival’s opening film was Sukiyaki, a music biopic directed by Takahisa Zeze about the creation of the Japanese pop song that became an international hit in 1963. The competition lineup includes works by Iranian-Kurdish, Macedonian, Indonesian, and Chinese directors, along with three Japanese entries. The festival’s expanded program reflects growing international participation in Japan’s leading annual cinema event.
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