Japanese Film Festival
The Japanese Film Festival is an Australia-wide cinematic celebration of Japan’s bustling film industry, creativity and innovation. Brought to you by The Japan Foundation of Sydney, the festival is coming to Canberra, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
The opening film is Look Back. It is the latest film from Palme d’Or winning director Hirokazu Koreeda and it is adapted from the popular manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the artist behind the 35-million-selling Chainsaw Man. Look Back made its world premiere at the 2026 Venice Film Festival and makes its Australian premiere at the Japanese Film Festival. Another noteworthy film to look out for is SHAM, from cult favourite filmmaker Takashi Miike, best known for his 1999 film Audition. The Samurai and the Prisoner made its world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and it is acclaimed director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s first-ever period film. This particular movie is adapted from the Naoki Prize-winning novel by Honobu Yonezawa.
You can catch the Japanese Film Festival in Perth from Wednesday 13 October to Thursday 21 October.
Bec Bowman chats with festival programmer Manisay Oudomvilay.
