Tokyo opens the 39th edition of its festival with the Kurosawa Award to Mihoko Go and Mohammad Rasoulof
The Tokyo International Film Festival runs from October 26 to November 4 across the districts of Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi and Ginza, with the film SUKIYAKI opening the event.
The news currently comes from a single source — the official website of the Tokyo International Film Festival — with no independent confirmation available at this time.
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival will be held from October 26 to November 4, 2026, spread across the districts of Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi and Ginza. The Japanese event opens its edition with the film SUKIYAKI, while the closing will be entrusted to Colony: two titles that mark the boundaries of a festival that confirms itself as one of the leading film events in Asia.
The most anticipated recognition, the Kurosawa Akira Award for the 2026 edition, has been given to director Mihoko Go and Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof. It is a dual award that brings together two different cinematic paths under the same recognition, named after the Japanese director who gave his name to the prize. The festival has not yet released the specific reasons behind the award to the two filmmakers, nor details about the award ceremony.
The festival has also announced that actor Hayato Isomura will chair the jury of the Ethical Film Award, one of the event’s collateral prizes. This award is designed to highlight works that stand out for their attention to ethical themes in film production or content, entrusted this year to the chairmanship of a well-known figure in Japanese cinema.
Alongside the competitive selection, the 2026 program includes the international TIFF symposium dedicated to film education, conceived as a forum for dialogue among industry professionals and institutions, and the Taiwan Cinema Renaissance 2026 section, which gives space to contemporary Taiwanese film production within the framework of the Japanese festival.
The calendar therefore remains set: opening on October 26 with SUKIYAKI, closing on November 4 with Colony, and in between nine days of screenings, awards and symposiums spread across the central districts of the Japanese capital.
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