Event

Japanese Film Festival 2026 - Melbourne

Various venues

Celebrate three decades of Japanese cinema on Australian screens. The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) returns to Melbourne to showcase the best of contemporary Japanese filmmaking, featuring Australian premieres, international festival favourites, award-winning features and box-office hits from some of Japan's leading directors. The festival opens with the Australian premiere of Look Back, the highly anticipated new title from acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. Other highlights include Tokyo Taxi from the legendary Yōji Yamada, Cannes-selected animated feature We Are Aliens, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's samurai drama The Samurai and the Prisoner, Berlinale prize winner AnyMart, Takashi Miike's SHAM, and the hit romantic drama 1st Kiss. In addition to its festival lineup, the Japanese Film Festival 2026 presents a dedicated Animation Showcase, a free retrospective celebrating legendary composer Tōru Takemitsu, and a selection of the latest releases direct from the Japanese box office. Whether you're a long-time fan of Japanese cinema or discovering it for the first time, this anniversary edition offers a unique opportunity to experience some of the year's most exciting films on the big screen. Visit the event website to browse the full program and book in your favourite session.

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