The Tokyo International Film Festival is expanding its commitment to emerging talent with the launch of the Asian Student Film Conference, a new showcase section featuring 15 films less than 60 minutes from Asian film schools.
With support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the competition presents live-action and animated works that “redefine the traditional image of student films,” according to festival organizers. The selected titles include works awarded at Cannes and other major festivals, offering what TIFF calls “fresh perspectives and novel insights” from a diverse range of countries that “clarified the contemporary social and cultural landscape.”
The lineup leads are Taiwan, Chinese and Japanese works, including “Ready!serve!smash!” from Taiwan’s King Hao Tai (National Taiwan University of Arts), “Bowl Meat Girl” from Seki Shunta (Nihon University of Arts), “Hul Jai I’m Live,” “Hallelujah I’m Live,” from hou zhuyuan (Shanghai Film Academy), “Hallelujah I’m Live,” and “Juma” from King Lin and Ye Hanling’s “Juma” from Furuya Daichi (Nihon University College of Art).
The Korean Academy of Motion Picture Arts offers multiple entries in the selection: “Floating” by Lee Ji-Yun, “The Engine Revival” by Jung Hee-in, “Backpike” by Kim Eun-Seo, and “Indigestion” by Han Heeon-Ji. Additional works from China and Japan include “Twelve Moments Climbing the Flag” by China’s Qu Zhizheng (Beijing Academy of Film), “Side” by Japan’s Endo Alisa (Tokyo Zokei University) and “August” by Japan’s Ehara Henry (Tokyo University of the Arts).
The programme concludes with “The Roundtable Dilemma” by Taiwan’s Chen Li Husun (National University of the Arts), China’s Xiao Hanji (Beijing Film Academy), and “Eternity and Day” by Vietnam’s “The Roundtable Dilemma” by Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Min Khue (Hanoi Academy of Hanoi Academy).
The announcement comes alongside the naming of Ikeda Elaiza’s Tiff as a ju-secret ju-secret for the Ethics Film Awards, released in 2023 in collaboration with Sumitomo Corporation. The award aims to raise awareness of social issues such as the environment, poverty and discrimination through film. Ikedasel will be supplied for acting, directing and musical performances, and the ju judge will be joined by three members of the Tiff Student PR team: Yuzumi Soi Chiro from Kio University, sudo rimi from Dokki University, and Yugan from Toio University.
Tiff also announced its centerpiece and closing film, along with a robust gala selection. Yamada Yoji’s “Tokyo Taxi” is his 91st feature film and serves as the highlight of the festival. The adaptation of the 2022 French film “Driving Madeleine” is a story about the unlikely connection between an elderly woman and her taxi driver, starring Baisho Chieko and Kimura Takuya.
Academy Award-winning director Chloe Zao’s “Hamnet” closes the festival based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about the story behind Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The film stars Jesse Buckley and Paul Mezcal and won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Gala Selection includes “Eddington,” with Aria Star starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone. Jeremy Allen White says Scott Cooper’s Bruce Springsteen biopic, Springsteen: From Nowhere. and features Peter Ho Seung Chan’s “She Doesn’t Have a Name” Zhang Ziyi.
The festival will launch the Tiff Teens Cine Club as part of the Youth Section, and welcome Japanese actor Ikematsu Sosuke as a club member. He will be participating in middle school students who are participating in TIFF 2025. Teens meet at cinemas and watch movies from the Youth section of the festival and discuss them.
The content market TIFFCOM, which runs simultaneously with TIFF, shines a spotlight on Japanese intellectual property in a keynote speech by Tetsu Fujimura, executive producer of Netflix’s live-action One Piece series. His seminar, “The Future of Japan’s Intellectual Property in Global Adaptation,” explores the growing international appetite for Japan’s content.
Tiffcom has also rebranded “Tokyo Story Market” as “Tokyo IP Market: Adaptation & Remake” and is expanding it to include visual content production companies along with publishers. Participating companies include Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shufu to Seikatsusha, Square Enix, Toyi and Japanese Greece.
The 38th Tokyo International Film Festival will be held from October 27th to November 27th. 5. Hibiya-yurakucho-marunouchiginza area of Tokyo. Tiffcom will be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial and Trade Center Hamamatsucho-Kan from October 29th to 31st.
