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). Watch on Deadline 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 AkiraWorld Premiere The Difficult Bride (France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway, Germany)Dir: Rubaiyat HossainAsian Premiere Double Freedom (Chile, Argentina, Luxemburg, Germany, UK)Dir: Lisandro AlonsoAsian Premiere Even If Hell Came (Italy)Dir: Samuele RossiAsian Premiere Fuxi: Four Tales Of Feasting (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Saudi, Qatar)Dir: Qiu JiongjiongWorld Premiere Heysel 85 (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany)Dir: Teodora Ana MihaiAsian Premiere The Intertwining (Japan)Dir: Yamamoto AkiraWorld Premiere Magic Atlas (Singapore)Dir: Sun XunAsian Premiere Memories Of Prison (Portugal)Dir: Sérgio GracianoAsian Premiere The Night That Binds Us (France, Hong Kong)Dir: Wang JiangyongWorld Premiere Red Before Dawn (Indonesia)Dir: Garin NugrohoWorld Premiere Sister Brother Manhole Cover (North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Italy, UK)Dir: Milcho ManchevskiWorld Premiere Trees Are Watching (Turkey)Dir: Bahman GhobadiAsian Premiere Two Cigarettes, Three Nights (Japan)Dir: Mishima YukikoWorld Premiere Until The Day Ends (Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, Germany)Dir: Jelena MaksimovićAsian Premiere ASIAN FUTURE COMPETITION: EDJOP (Philippines)Dir: Katski FloresInternational Premiere I’m Nothing Special Really (Iran)Dir: Navid MohammadzadehWorld Premiere Jani Be Good (Indonesia)Dir: Ariani DarmawanWorld Premiere Miracle Summer (Japan)Dir: Cai RonglinWorld Premiere On The Heights (Korea)Dir: Kim Hyun-minWorld Premiere The Paper Flower (India)Dir: ChezhiyanWorld Premiere Saravah (Japan)Dir: Kujiraoka HironoriWorld Premiere Serife Tavsan (Switzerland, Turkey)Dir: Tareq DaoudInternational Premiere Shyrmauyq (Kazakhstan)Dir: Azamat ShargynWorld Premiere Silver (Iran)Dir: Soheil KarimiWorld Premiere