Tokyo Film Festival Chief Returns and Says It Needs More Money

Takeo Hisamatsu is back in charge of the Tokyo International Film Festival, and he says the event needs more money. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said a weaker yen and rising prices have shrunk the budget for flying in and hosting visiting filmmakers.

Hisamatsu first led the festival from 2017 to 2021. Hiroyasu Ando had become chairman in 2019, and the two shared management duties for a time before Ando took sole charge. Ando has now stepped down, and Hisamatsu's appointment as festival director for the 39th edition took effect on April 14, according to the festival's own news page.

Hisamatsu has spent most of his working life around cinemas and studios. He joined the Japanese studio Shochiku in 1978, and in 1986 he took over as manager of Shochiku USA's Little Tokyo Cinema in Los Angeles. He also held executive roles at Warner Bros. and later set up his own company, My Way Movies.

The festival has changed shape in recent years. Under Ando, it moved to the Ginza and Hibiya districts in central Tokyo. It has also added competitive prizes for Nippon Cinema Now, its showcase of contemporary Japanese films, and launched a TIFF Work-in-Progress initiative. That scheme links Japanese films still in production with international festival programmers, the people who choose what gets shown at festivals around the world.

Hisamatsu wants the festival to work as a stronger launchpad for Japanese filmmakers seeking audiences abroad. He said he is optimistic that the Japanese government will increase its support before the festival's 40th edition next year.

The timing gives his push some context. Japan's box office reached a record 274.5 billion yen, about $1.8 billion, in 2025, passing its previous high from 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Japan was also picked as the country of honour at the Marché du Film, the market held alongside Cannes, in May. In October, more than 30 Japanese films screened at the Busan International Film Festival.

Variety reported on October 25 that Hisamatsu said the festival will reassess its global standing ahead of the 40th edition, in a report from Variety.

Money is the practical question. A festival that flies in directors, actors and programmers needs hotel rooms, travel and staff, and those costs rise when the yen buys less abroad. Hisamatsu's pitch to the government is that a bigger budget would let more Japanese films meet international buyers and festival programmers in Tokyo.