The Tokyo International Film Festival will use the close of its 39th edition as a review moment, then reset its international positioning before next year’s 40th anniversary, festival director Hisamatsu Takeo said.
A bigger lineup and a sharper comparison
The festival has expanded to 204 films this year from 184 last year. The growth is modest in raw numbers, but it arrives with a harder strategic question: where should Tokyo sit next to Busan, Cannes and Venice?
Hisamatsu pointed to Busan as a direct point of comparison because the two events are close in geography and dates. His proposed answer is not to out-internationalise rivals. It is to make the host city work harder.
The time has come to re-examine where TIFF should position itself, both within Asia and within the world, he told Variety.
Why this matters for business
For distributors, buyers and festival strategists, Tokyo’s review is a pipeline signal. UniJapan runs the festival, the TIFFCOM market and a set of promotion programs. Hisamatsu wants the three arms to operate more closely so a premiere can turn into an export conversation more often.
A festival generally does not own the rights to the films it screens. That means a title’s commercial next step still depends on rights holders and distributors. What a festival can do is reduce friction: create awards, introductions and market moments that get a title noticed.
- Nippon Cinema Now becomes a competitive section for the first time, with two new awards.
- TIFF Work-in-Progress links unfinished Japanese films to international festivals and industry figures.
- Japan was Country of Honor at this year’s Cannes Film Market, and more than 30 Japanese films played at Busan.
Think of a festival as a two-sided market. It imports foreign films for local audiences and exports its own cinema to international buyers. Tokyo’s current shift is mainly a rebalancing of the export side, an area where Japanese cinema has historically been strong in reputation but uneven in follow-through.
The glocal angle
Hisamatsu framed the next phase with a glocal perspective: international reach that stays rooted in local culture. For media planners and content buyers tracking Asian IP, that means Tokyo is trying to make Japanese titles easier to follow beyond a festival slot.
This year’s marquee programming tilts toward mainstream entertainment: Zeze Takahisa’s Sukiyaki opens the festival, Yamazaki Takashi’s Godzilla Minus Zero is the centerpiece, and Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony closes it. Hisamatsu said the selections were made on individual merit, not as an identity switch.
The immediate proof points are not only the 20 additional titles. Watch whether the two new Nippon Cinema Now awards generate pickups, and whether TIFF-WIP projects show up at larger markets after Tokyo. The 40th edition will be the real test of whether the review turns into a sharper value proposition for Japanese films abroad.
Source: Variety
