The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) opened on September 10, 2025, bringing the richness of Japanese cinema back to Malaysian audiences. Running until October 19 with screenings scheduled across selected GSC cinemas in the Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu, the festival continues to bridge cultures through storytelling on screen.
Since its inception 30 years ago, the festival has drawn over 200,000 attendees, screened 215 titles, and hosted cultural events across five regions. The 2025 edition continues this legacy with 13 films spanning drama, suspense, romance, culinary storytelling, and a classic samurai masterpiece.
The festival opened with Sunset Sunrise (2025), directed by Kishi Yoshiyuki, a filmmaker previously honored at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The film, which won the Audience Choice Award at Chicago’s Asian Pop-up Cinema earlier this year, explores the pursuit of joy in everyday life, even during challenging times.
Food and culture play a strong role in this year’s programming, with Northern Food Story and The Solitary Gourmet joining Sunset Sunrise in the culinary lineup. Each film highlights how meals can reflect memory, connection, and the rhythms of daily life.
Beyond the screen, the festival also invests in new voices. A three-day filmmaking workshop will bring together students from Multimedia University, Sunway University, New Era University College, and ASWARA. Led by director Uesugi Tetsuya, the program aims to foster cross-cultural dialogue, with completed short films to be shared online.
Audiences can also look ahead to a special screening of Diamonds in the Sand, directed by Janus Victoria. A co-production between Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia, the film examines solitude, care, and human connection across borders.
Highlights from the 2025 Lineup
The program spans a wide range of genres, from live-action adaptations to timeless classics.
- Cells at Work! (2024, dir. Takeuchi Hideki)
Adapted from the hit manga, this live-action feature reimagines the 37 trillion cells in the human body as inhabitants of a bustling city. A rookie red blood cell and a tireless white blood cell team up in a playful, action-filled journey through the body. - Showtime 7 (2025, dir. Watanabe Kazutaka)
A radio host dismisses a bomb threat as a prank, only for a nearby power plant to explode minutes later. Suddenly thrust into the role of an emergency negotiator, he faces decisions that carry life-or-death consequences. - Angry Squad: The Civil Servant and the Seven Swindlers (2024, dir. Ueda Shinichiro)
A tax investigator’s pursuit of an evader takes an unexpected turn when he joins forces with a group of con artists. The film explores shifting loyalties, trust, and moral choices. - 6 Lying University Students (2024, dir. Satoh Yuichi)
Six high-achieving students competing for jobs at a prestigious tech firm find themselves trapped in a web of lies and manipulation, raising questions about ambition and integrity. - Teasing Master Takagi-san (2024, dir. Imaizumi Rikiya)
A gentle romance rekindles when two former classmates reconnect on a small island. What began as childhood teasing blossoms into something deeper as past and present intertwine. - 366 Days (2025, dir. Shinjou Takehiko)
Beginning in 2003, this story follows Miu and Minato, two teenagers bonded by music whose love stretches across decades. Their journey explores longing, separation, and rediscovery. - Petals and Memories (2025, dir. Maeda Tetsu)
In Osaka, Toshiki raises his younger sister after the loss of their parents. As she prepares for her wedding, Toshiki confronts his responsibilities, his bond with her, and the haunting question of borrowed memories. - Seven Samurai (1954, dir. Kurosawa Akira)
Kurosawa’s legendary tale of villagers hiring samurai to defend against bandits returns to the big screen. Its themes of honor, sacrifice, and resilience remain as powerful today as when it was first released. - At the Bench (2024, dir. Okuyama Yoshiyuki)
Set around a riverside bench in Tokyo, five interconnected stories of family and romance unfold. The film marks the directorial debut of acclaimed photographer Okuyama, bringing a visual sensitivity to everyday moments.
Culinary Features
Food is at the heart of several selections this year, emphasizing the connections between cuisine, community, and culture.
- Sunset Sunrise (2025, dir. Kishi Yoshiyuki)
Set during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Tokyo salaryman relocates to Miyagi’s Sanriku Coast. There, amid memories of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, he learns to rebuild his life through cooking, fishing, and unexpected bonds with the locals. - Northern Food Story (2024, dir. Uesugi Tetsuya)
This documentary captures the lives of four chefs in Hokkaido as they pursue their culinary visions across the seasons. It reflects on how food intertwines with landscapes, traditions, and the people who cultivate them. - The Solitary Gourmet (2025, dir. Matsushige Yutaka)
A traveling salesman crisscrosses Japan and beyond, discovering dishes in restaurants and food stalls. His search for the secrets of a mysterious soup becomes a meditation on curiosity and the simple joy of eating.
Special Screening
- Diamonds in the Sand (2024, dir. Janus Victoria)
This Japan–Philippines–Malaysia collaboration follows Yoji, a widowed man in Tokyo confronting loneliness after his mother’s death. His meeting with Minerva, a Filipina caregiver, prompts him to reconsider his life’s direction, eventually leading him to Manila.
For more details, visit www.jfkl.org.my.
