Tokyo Film Festival Boss Wants More Money and More Parties

Takeo Hisamatsu is back running the Tokyo International Film Festival. He served as director from 2017 to 2021, then left the role. Hiroyasu Ando, who became chairman in 2019, took over and changed the festival's direction. Ando moved the event to the Ginza and Hibiya districts, changed the programming staff, added filmmaker talks, and revived the Kurosawa Akira Award. Ando stepped down earlier this year, and Hisamatsu was reinstalled as director.

Hisamatsu spent years as an executive at Shochiku and at Warner Bros. He said he was surprised by the return to Tokyo but called it a good opportunity. He said the timing works for him, pointing to recent attention on Japanese films. Ryusuke Hamaguchi won the Oscar for best international feature for Drive My Car. Godzilla Minus One won for visual effects. Japan was the country of honor at Cannes' Marche du Film in May. More than 30 Japanese films screened at the Busan International Film Festival this month. Japan's box office reached ¥274.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2025, which passed the prior high set in 2019.

Hisamatsu wants the festival to push Japanese filmmakers outward as well as bring foreign films to Japan. This year the festival added competitive prizes for Nippon Cinema Now, its showcase of Japanese filmmaking. It also started TIFF Work-in-Progress, which links Japanese productions with festival programmers and industry figures from other countries.

He said the festival needs more money. The yen has depreciated and prices have risen, so the budget for flying in and hosting filmmakers does not go as far. He said he is working to bring in sponsors for the 40th edition next year and to show them why that edition is worth their brands. He said the government may increase support for the event, but he is not counting on it.

Hisamatsu also wants the Japanese studios involved. He said he reached out to the major studios about hosting events during this year's festival, but they were not ready in time. Toho is holding its first invitation-only Toho Izakaya Night to promote its projects and meet international guests. He said he wants more parties like those at Cannes and Busan, where studios host gatherings for their companies.

Hisamatsu is using next year's 40th anniversary to set goals for his team. He said the festival is seen as competing with Busan, which has grown in recent years. Asia makes up about 40 percent of the global box office, he said, and the two festivals can work together to show Asian cinema to the world.