By arts editor HELEN MUSA

Everything from samurai epics and horror films to animation, social dramas and international award winners will hit the screen this weekend in the Japanese Film Festival, celebrating 30 years.

The event coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Australia-Japan Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, and in Canberra screenings will run at the National Film and Sound Archive until October 13.

Festival programmer Manisay Oudomvilay says this year’s line-up honours both the masters who shaped Japanese cinema and the filmmakers redefining it, with The Samurai and the Prisoner by horror specialist Kiyoshi [not Akira] Kurosawa and Samurai Vengeance, which combines murder, revenge and mystery in a tale featuring veteran star Ken Watanabe.

The opening night film is Hirokazu Koreeda’s Look Back, adapted from the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, creator of Chainsaw Man but a striking feature of the program is its blend of generations. Veteran filmmaker Yōji Yamada, now 94, will present his 91st feature film, Tokyo Taxi, while 30-year-old animator Kōhei Kadowaki makes his directorial debut with We Are Aliens.

Among the festival highlights is Ryōta Nakano’s family drama Bring Him Down to a Portable Size, while Purehearted tells the story of an Okinawan entrepreneur determined to establish an authentic sugarcane rum distillery.

Hula Girls, Lee Sang-il’s 2006 drama about women in a struggling Fukushima mining town who reinvent themselves as hula dancers, will be reprised.

The festival also showcases some of Japan’s biggest recent box-office successes. Romantic drama 1ST KISS became one of 2025’s top-grossing films, while the thriller Suzuki=Bakudan earned 12 Japan Academy Award nominations after taking more than A$28 million at the Japanese box office.

The festival also embraces darker territory through films such as AnyMart, a black comedy about a convenience store clerk whose life descends into violence, and Takashi Miike’s Sham, based on a real-life court case that sparked national debate in Japan.

Animation remains a major focus. Kadowaki’s We Are Aliens joins Annecy prize-winner ChaO, science-fiction adventure All You Need is Kill, the sequel Chimney Town: Frozen in Time and the stop-motion fantasy Junk World.

Adding a historical dimension to the festival is the return of the JFF Special Series, this year devoted to films scored by celebrated composer Tōru Takemitsu, marking 30 years since his death.

2026 Japanese Film Festival, Palace Electric and National Film and Sound Archive, September 26 to October 13.

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