The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026
Sat 7 - Tue 17 Feb
Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema
The UK’s largest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP), is back again. This is the place where cinema comes alive!
Knowing others - let alone ourselves - is not easy, as we behave differently depending on the relationship, environment, or even intention. In an age of advanced digital technology, where imagery can be readily manipulated, it is even harder to define who we, or others, truly are. This notion of identifying the self has been repeatedly explored in cinematic narratives in various ways. However, is it really possible to know our true selves? And if so, would such revelations lead to happiness and freedom, or might they instead bring disastrous and harsh consequences?
With these questions in mind, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026 showcases some of the most unmissable Japanese films nationwide across the UK. From powerful social crime dramas and laugh-out-loud comedies to gender-defining films, fantasy, and horror, the programme offers something for everyone.
Co-presented by:
Supported by:
Sponsorship in kind:
Upcoming screenings in this season
Conflagration
classified 18 (CTBA)Subtitled screening
In postwar Kyoto, troubled monk Goichi’s reverence for the sacred Shukaku Temple curdles into obsession for its beauty as he witnesses corruption and hypocrisy within its walls. Tormented, he resolves to commit a shocking act of purity from which there is no return.
Sham
classified 18 (CTBA)Subtitled screening
A devoted teacher faces shocking abuse allegations from his pupil’s mother. As media frenzy and a massive lawsuit spiral out of control, his world and his core self collapse around him in this fast-paced drama based on a real incident.
The Last Blossom
classified 18 (CTBA)Subtitled screening
Lonely prisoner and former yakuza member Minoru talks to his sole companion, a potted hosenka (balsam), about his past and the meaning of life. Betrayed and manipulated from a young age, he still clings to one thing - the hope of turning his life around - in this tender anime.
Teki Cometh
classified 18 (CTBA)Subtitled screening
Retired French literature professor Gisuke lives a quiet, solitary life - until a mysterious email plunges him into haunting dreams and growing dread, forcing him to reckon with his deepest sins as his respectable facade begins to crumble.