TIFF’s 39th Edition Concludes with Cheers and Laughter
 
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) came to a close on November 4, following 10 days of screenings and events at the festival’s venues in the Hibiya-Marunouchi-Yurakucho-Ginza area and elsewhere around the capital. TIFF screened 204 films, many of them world premieres and nearly all of them with guest appearances, with 69,072 admissions and another 89,269 audience members attending related events.
 
This year’s highlights included a vibrant procession on the soaking-wet opening Red Carpet, masterclasses with singular filmmakers Wayne Wang and Tsukamoto Shinya, crowd-pleasing Opening, Closing and Centerpiece films from Japan and Korea, which included memorable monsters from both countries.
 
During the Closing Ceremony at Hulic Hall Tokyo, recipients were announced for a range of awards, culminating in the Tokyo Grand Prix, The Governor of Tokyo Award, which comes with 3 million yen in prize money.
 
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival Closing Ceremony
Date: November 4 (Wed.), 2026, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Venue: Hulic Hall Tokyo
Jury Members and Guests:
Competition Jury President: Rolf de Heer
Competition Jury Members: Alex Lo / Oh Jungwan / Watanabe Makiko / Yov Moor
Asian Future Jury Members: Eiko Mizuno-Gray / Fujimoto Akio / Yulia Evina Bhara
Nippon Cinema Now Jury Members: Mathieu Macheret / Murata Chieko / Sabrina Baracetti
Asian Students’ Film Conference Jury Members: Barbara Wurm / Teodora Ana Mihai / Ema Ryan Yamazaki
Ethical Film Award Jury Members: Isomura Hayato (Jury President) / Student PR Team
Closing Film, Colony: Yeon Sang-ho (Director), Hailey Yoo-min Yang (Executive Producer), Koo Kyo-hwan (Actor), Nao (Actor) and Kaji Yuki (Voice Actor)
Special Guest: Yamashita Satoshi, Vice Governor of Tokyo
39th TIFF Festival Director: Hisamatsu Takeo
 
MC: Maxwell Powers
 
 
 
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival Press Conference with Jury and Award Winners
Date: November 4 (Wed.), 2026, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Yurakucho Asahi Square
Speakers:
Competition Jury Members: Rolf de Heer / Alex Lo / Oh Jungwan / Watanabe Makiko / Yov Moor
 
Guests: Sara Klimoska (Actress), Filip Trajkovikj (Actor) and Jane Kortoshev (Producer) from Sister Brother Manhole Cover, Sun Xun (Director/Producer/Screenplay/Editor, Magic Atlas), Hu Ling (Actor, The Night That Binds Us), Mishima Yukiko (Director, Two Cigarettes, Three Nights), Jelena Maksimović (Director/Screenplay, Until the Day Ends), Teodora Ana Mihai (Director/Screenplay, Heysel 85), Tareq Daoud (Director, Serife Tavsan), Tanaka Miki (Director, silver express), Matsumura Shingo (Director, Between Us), Nguyen Vu Hien Chi (Director, Running Wild in the Sun), Nah Yee Chern (Director, Everything’s Peachy), Kim Nam-hyeon (Director, All of Her)
 

The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival Award Winners
 
Competition
Tokyo Grand Prix, The Governor of Tokyo Award: Sister Brother Manhole Cover
(North Macedonia/Bulgaria/Serbia/Albania/Italy/UK)
Special Jury Prize: Magic Atlas (Singapore)
Award for Best Director: Lisandro Alonso (Double Freedom, Chile/Argentina/Luxembourg/Germany/UK)
Award for Best Actress: Hu Ling (The Night That Binds Us, France/Hong Kong)
Award for Best Actor: Narita Ryo (Two Cigarettes, Three Nights, Japan)
Award for Best Artistic Contribution: Until the Day Ends (Serbia/Bulgaria/Slovenia/Montenegro/Croatia/Germany)
Audience Award: Heysel 85 (Belgium/The Netherlands/Germany)
 
Asian Future
Best Film Award: Serife Tavsan (Switzerland/Turkey)
Special Mention: Jani Be Good (Indonesia)
 
Nippon Cinema Now
Best Film Award: silver express (Japan)
Special Jury Prize: Between Us (Japan)
 
Asian Students’ Film Conference section
Grand Prix: Running Wild in the Sun (Vietnam)
Special Jury Prize: Everything’s Peachy (Singapore) / All of Her (Korea)
 
TIFF Ethical Film Award: I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (Germany/Ukraine)
Kurosawa Akira Award: O Mipo / Mohammad Rasoulof
 

39th Tokyo International Film Festival Numbers (Preliminary figures)
Total number of audience / number of films screened：69,072 admissions / 204 films over 10 days (Last year, 38th: 68,039 admissions, 101.5% / 184 films, 110.9% over 10 days)
 
% of films by female directors and co-directed by male and female directors: 23.5% (48 in 204 films）
Other official events：89,269 admissions （last year: 93,847 / 95.1％）
Events with the guest appearance: 185 （last year: 184 / 100.5％）
International guests: Approx. 2,015（last year: 2,792 / 73.8％）
 

The Tokyo Grand Prix, The Governor of Tokyo Award, went to Milcho Manchevski’s Sister Brother Manhole Cover, while Heysel 85, directed by Teodora Ana Mihai, received the Audience Award. Announcing the Tokyo Grand Prix, International Competition Jury President Rolf de Heer praised Sister Brother Manhole Cover for its “seamless blending of humor, tragedy and drama” and the “humanity and compassion shown toward its characters.”
 
Accepting the award on behalf of the director, producer Jane Kortoshev remarked, “We came to Tokyo with a manhole cover and we’re going back to Macedonia with this beautiful award. I’d say it’s a pretty good deal.” Manchevski, appearing via video, expressed his delight: “I’m so happy Tokyo loves our manhole cover, because TIFF is one of my favorite festivals in the world.”
 
Before announcing the Competition awards, de Heer reflected on the remarkable diversity of the 15 films and the challenge of comparing such distinctive works. He praised the collaborative spirit of the jury, emphasizing that all the decisions had been reached together.
 
The Special Jury Prize went to Sun Xun’s Magic Atlas, recognized for its imaginative combination of reality and fantasy, history and myth. Sun, who spent 10 years making the film, expressed his surprise and gratitude, thanking his family and team for their support.
 
Lisandro Alonso received the Award for Best Director for Double Freedom, with the jury commending his restrained cinematic language and precise depiction of the passage of time. Unable to attend, Alonso sent a video message expressing his appreciation for the recognition.
 
The Award for Best Actress went to Hu Ling for The Night That Binds Us, with the jury praising her deeply moving portrayal of loneliness, strength and sadness. Fighting back tears, Hu thanked the film’s director, production team, family and supporters.
 
Narita Ryo received the Award for Best Actor for Two Cigarettes, Three Nights. Director Mishima Yukiko accepted the award on his behalf, warmly praising his performance and the depth he brought to the film.
 
The Award for Best Artistic Contribution went to Jelena Maksimović’s Until the Day Ends, recognized for its cinematography. Maksimović dedicated the award to the students and citizens of Serbia who have been fighting for change.
 
The Audience Award went to Teodora Ana Mihai’s Heysel 85. Mihai, who had earlier served as a presenter for the Asian Students’ Film Conference awards, expressed her surprise: “I was expecting to give awards tonight, not to receive one.” She added, “When we make a film, we always hope that it will resonate. There’s always a fear that it won’t.”
 
In the Asian Future section, Serife Tavsan, directed by Tareq Daoud, received the Best Film Award. Juror Fujimoto Akio praised its powerful portrayal of a protagonist overcoming prejudice and oppression while reconnecting with others. An emotional Daoud exclaimed, “This is the first prize I’ve won in my life,” before declaring, “Long live cinema!” Jani Be Good, directed by Ariani Darmawan, received a Special Mention.
 
The newly established Nippon Cinema Now awards recognized silver express, directed by Tanaka Miki, as Best Film, and Between Us, directed by Matsumura Shingo, with the Special Jury Prize. Juror Murata Chieko revealed that silver express had been the unanimous choice of the jury, which considered eight films selected from more than 150 submissions. She expressed hope that the award-winning films would reach audiences at festivals throughout Japan and abroad.
 
The Asian Students’ Film Conference Grand Prix went to Running Wild in the Sun, directed by Nguyen Vu Hien Chi of Vietnam. The jury praised its cinematic vision and emotional honesty, noting that its script and execution surpassed expectations for a student film. Special Jury Prizes went to All of Her, directed by Kim Nam-hyeon of Korea, and Everything’s Peachy, directed by Nah Yee Chern of Singapore.
 
Following the awards, the ceremony turned to the festival’s Closing Film, Colony. Director Yeon Sang-ho was joined onstage by producer Yang Yoomin, actor Koo Kyo-hwan, and Japanese dubbing cast members Nao and Kaji Yuki. Yeon spoke of the unique experience of watching films in a theater, where audiences can immerse themselves in unfamiliar worlds and share their reactions afterward. The cast highlighted the film’s intense action, innovative depiction of evolving zombies and immersive theatrical experience.
 
Bringing the ceremony to a close, TIFF Festival Director Hisamatsu Takeo thanked the filmmakers, audiences, guests and supporters who had contributed to the festival’s success. He emphasized his belief that a film festival should celebrate cinema in all its forms, including works that challenge audiences and confront difficult realities.
 
Looking ahead to the milestone 40th edition in 2027, Hisamatsu expressed his ambition to make the festival “more diverse, more vibrant, more spectacular and more festive than ever before.”
 
He then officially declared the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival closed.
 
Watch archive of the Closing Ceremony here
 
For a full report on the Jury Members and Award Winners Press Conference.