International Awards and Japanese Dominance
The jury’s awards went primarily to foreign productions. The Grand Prize was awarded to the Macedonian film „Sister Brother Manhole Cover”, a sardonic and surreal work that parodies „Parasite”. Among the main competition winners, there was only one Japanese film. However, several non-Japanese productions captured my attention at this edition of TIFF (the one in Tokyo, not Toronto, as is often clarified in conversations). The Tamil drama „The Paper Flower”, with its sweet and intellectual tone, stood out, as did „Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting”, the work of contemporary Chinese artist Qiu Jiongjiong.
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Patrick Stewart's Picard: The Role That Defined A GenerationThis last film was considered a „big bet”, being divisive, at least among the foreign critics I discussed it with after the screening hours at the smoky izakayas, full of plastic chairs and boxes of wooden skewers, located near the festival venue. (I prefer a specific place, located under the Shinkansen railway lines, though all have their own charm).
The Roman Porno Legacy
One reason this question was so present in my mind is that watching 11 new Japanese films (and three classics) in a single week, as I did at this TIFF edition, gives a fairly complete picture of the spectrum of what is produced today in the country. The opening film „Sukiyaki” sits at one end of the scale, a mainstream work without scruples, made by a director with experience in pink films. (More about these in a minute). Although the original soundtrack was so captivating that I had to stop myself from lip-syncing in a crowded elevator after the screening, perhaps the popular path is right for a film about its composer. Speaking of pink films, 2026 marks the 55th anniversary of Nikkatsu’s „Roman Porno” series, a Japanese softcore subgenre created to bring adult viewers back to cinemas during the rise of television in the ’70s.
These were usually character-driven works, artistically filmed, and „Wet Weekend”, a more obscure but equally provocative (in a good way) entry in this cycle, was no exception. Director Kichitaro Negishi and lead actress Junko Miyashita were present for a Q&A after the film, and although both joked about how strange it was to see the film after so much time, especially at a film festival, Negishi spoke with love about the creative freedom he enjoyed on this project. Like their American B-movie counterparts, Roman Pornos were places where, as long as you met your quota—here, a sex scene every 10 minutes—you could do almost anything with the rest of the film.
Vertical Dramas and Niche Genres
By comparison, the romantic drama „Boys Love” by Amazon/GMG had fewer sex scenes and took fewer artistic risks. But it was still interesting to see a distinctive Japanese phenomenon (though it gained popularity abroad—insert the mandatory reference to „Heated Rivalry” here) in the context of an international festival. The director of „One Cut of the Dead”, Shinichiro Ueda, is a filmmaker used to working independently: his debut film was made on a budget of ¥3 million (approximately $19,000 today). Since then, he has expanded into the world of so-called „vertical dramas”, the latest of which was so well received that it was repackaged as a standalone feature. Although Ueda’s thoughtful efforts are remarkable, you can never forget that you are watching a film that appeared on TikTok.
Fairy Tales and Anime
But the story, about a film director diagnosed with early-onset dementia who tries to remember his first film—and his infatuation with the girl who starred in it—is enough to transcend the format. Ultimately, „Earthlings in Love” is both liberated and limited by vertical cinematography and its winding, melodic narrative line.
Although both are odd birds, in many ways, the Japanese film in competition „The Canary’s Lullaby” is an inversion of „Earthlings in Love”. Here, director Akira Ikeda chooses the fairy tale path, telling a story (not quite a fable, since there is no real moral) about an old woman in an atemporal East Asian village who discovers a very strange-looking baby, threatened by a monster. Ikeda’s style of absurdity is very deadpan—the character’s laugh sounds like a dry cough—which I like. But although it is controlled and beautifully composed, it never reaches a climax. Another form of popular Japanese entertainment I tried to understand better is anime, being an ideal example of a highly popular type of cinema—both in Japan and abroad—that often doesn’t receive the critical recognition it deserves. I spent u
