The Japanese Film Festival will bring three films to Adelaide across six screenings at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas from 23 to 28 November 2026. This is the Festival’s first Adelaide presentation since 2018.
These three titles are drawn from the Festival’s broader 2026 line-up, spanning live-action drama, samurai thriller and animation. Palme d’Or-winning director Hirokazu KOREEDA adapts Tatsuki FUJIMOTO’s manga Look Back, while Kiyoshi KUROSAWA, best known for his work in horror, turns to period drama with The Samurai and the Prisoner. Rounding out the trio, emerging animator Kōhei KADOWAKI makes his feature debut with We Are Aliens, bringing a new voice to the program’s animated offering.
Japanese Film Festival Programmer, Manisay OUDOMVILAY said, “Thirty years on, the Japanese Film Festival remains the premier destination for Australian audiences to experience Japan’s best contemporary cinema. We’re thrilled to share a selection of this year’s Festival with Adelaide audiences, with films moving from intimate stories of friendship and grief to samurai intrigue and bold new animation, showcasing the range and creativity of contemporary Japanese filmmaking in our 30th year.”
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Look Back is based on the manga by Tatsuki FUJIMOTO, the artist behind the 35-million-selling Chainsaw Man. Hirokazu KOREEDA adapted, directed and edited it, and the film had its World Premiere in Competition at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. It follows two young manga artists whose childhood rivalry turns into friendship and, eventually, real grief, set against the quiet isolation of a small town in northern Japan. This is the second screen adaptation of the manga, following the 2024 anime film directed by Kiyotaka OSHIYAMA.
The Samurai and the Prisoner is the first period drama from horror auteur Kiyoshi KUROSAWA and had its World Premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. It depicts a besieged samurai lord who forms an uneasy alliance with a brilliant, dangerous prisoner while a traitor hides within his own court. Adapted from Honobu YONEZAWA’s Naoki Prize-winning novel, the historical thriller fuses samurai spectacle with whodunnit intrigue.
We Are Aliens marks Kōhei KADOWAKI’s directorial debut and follows two boys whose close-knit childhood friendship is shattered by a single careless moment. KADOWAKI’s distinctive visual style blends hand-drawn 2D animation with rotoscoping. The film premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2026, where it competed for the Caméra d’Or before playing in Competition at Annecy.
The Festival’s 30th anniversary coincides with 50 years since Australia and Japan signed their Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
The Adelaide screening program and tickets are available now at jffau.jpf.go.jp/program/?city=adelaide.
2026 JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ADELAIDE SCREENINGS
DATES: 23 to 28 November 2026
VENUE: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, 3 Cinema Place (off 250 Rundle Street), Adelaide SA 5000
TICKETS: On sale now at jffau.jpf.go.jp/program/?city=adelaide.
SCREENINGS:
- Monday, 23 November, 6:00pm: We Are Aliens
- Tuesday, 24 November, 6:00pm: The Samurai and the Prisoner
- Wednesday, 25 November, 6:00pm: Look Back
- Saturday, 28 November, 12:30pm: We Are Aliens
- Saturday, 28 November, 3:00pm: Look Back
- Saturday, 28 November, 5:20pm: The Samurai and the Prisoner
Follow JFF: Facebook | Instagram | X | Letterboxd