Guest appearances for 2026!

We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be joined by as many as three directors of JFTFP26 titles at select screenings, where they’ll be giving exclusive Q&A sessions!

IIZUKA Kasho, director of Blue Boy Trial, will be appearing at:

• HOME, Manchester (12 Feb)
• Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London (13 Feb)
• Chapter, Cardiff (14 Feb)

YOSHIDA Daihachi, director of Teki Cometh, will be appearing at:

• Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London (14 Feb)
• QUAD, Derby (15 Feb)
• Showroom, Sheffield (16 Feb)
• The Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford (17 Feb)

KAI Sayaka, director of Adabana, will be appearing at:

• Storyhouse, Chester (25 Feb)
• Riverside Studios, London (26 Feb)
• Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast (27 Feb)
• Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds (3 Mar)

We’re excited to welcome them, and we hope you’re looking forward to meeting them!

Check out our film or venue pages for more details.

About IIZUKA Kasho

Born in Gunma Prefecture in 1990, IIZUKA is a filmmaker who openly shares his identity as a transgender man. During his university years, he trained under film director NEGISHI Yoshitaro and screenwriter KATO Masato. After receiving the Special Jury Prize at the Pia Film Festival for Our Future – a film inspired by his own experiences – he went on to direct The World for the Two of Us, his first commercially released feature (2020, Breath Inc.). He later made Angry Son (2021, Repro Entertainment), for which he was honored with the Most Promising New Talent Award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival.

For more information about Blue Boy Trial, please click here.

About YOSHIDA Daihachi

Born in Kagoshima Prefecture in 1963, YOSHIDA made his theatrical debut with Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!, which was selected for Critics’ Week at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and later screened at the Karlovy Vary and Warsaw International Film Festival, where it received the Free Spirit Award. His 2012 film The Kirishima Thing, adapted from ASAI Ryo’s bestselling novel, became a major box-office success and earned him multiple honors, including Best Film and Best Director at the Japan Academy Film Prize. He continued his acclaimed career with Pale Moon (2014), which won both the Audience Award and Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and later received the Kim Jiseok Award at the Busan International Film Festival for The Scythian Lamb (2017).

For more information about Teki Cometh, please click here.

About KAI Sayaka

Born in Tokyo in 1979, KAI is a graduate of Joshibi University of Art and Design and has been involved in film and theater since her teenage years, working as both an assistant director and a production designer. Her debut feature, Red Snow (2019), went on to earn the Best Picture and Best Actress awards at the 2019 Los Angeles Japan Film Festival, as well as the Up-and-Coming Director Grand Prix at the Takasaki International Film Festival. KAI was also nominated for the Kaneto Shindo Award, presented by the Japan Film Makers Association to emerging directors of exceptional promise. In addition to filmmaking, she is the author of two novels — Red Snow (2019, Kadokawa Shoten) and Shelter (2020, Bessatsu Bungeishunju) — and wrote and directed the stage production Sacred Monster, which premiered at Tokyo’s New National Theatre in March 2023.

For more information about Adabana, please click here.

Posted on: 12 January 2026

No festivals or screenings to display

No events or talks to display

No new releases to display

Nothing to display