Japan‘s Agency for Cultural Affairs unveiled four filmmakers selected for the first cohort of its Film Frontier Global Networking Program.
Announced on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), the program will help filmmakers sharpen their presentation skills, provide opportunities for overseas networking and increase their international exposure.
The Film Frontier Global Networking Program will be run by UniJapan, the organisation that is also behind the Tokyo fest.
While the first cohort recruited filmmakers focused on live action films, future rounds will select film professionals working on animated features.
The first iteration of the program will last 18 months from December 1 to May 31, 2026. It will be followed by a second edition that begins next year.
The four filmmakers in the first cohort are Shingo Ota (The End Of The Special Time We Were Allowed), Emma Kawawada (My Small Land), Kohki Hasei (Blanka) and Mai Nakanishi (Swallow).
Applicants for the program can be directors, producers or screenwriters and have to be Japanese nationals or permanent residents. They cannot have completed more than three feature films as directors, producers or screenwriters.
“The government wants to support the future of Japanese cinema and the ambitions of young creatives,” said Hirohiko Nakahar, counsellor of the Cabinet Secretariat and director-general of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. “I look forward to the success of these film projects.”
TIFF’s Programming Director Shozo Ichiyama was part of the program’s selection committee. “In recent years, the Tokyo Film Fest has increased its focus in nurturing new filmmakers,” Ichiyama said. “The selected participants had projects that were very ambitious, but also very realistic in what they were trying to achieve as films.
Christian Jeune, Cannes’ film department head and deputy general delegate, was present to share more about the importance of networking programs for emerging filmmakers, pointing out Cannes’ five-month-long “Residence” program as an example.
Featuring networking trips to the Rotterdam, Locarno and Berlin festivals depending on the cycle, the Cannes residency program started in 2000 and this year’s edition featured six filmmakers.
“We don’t give them any specific objectives, although filmmakers come with their own personal ones, but we don’t control that,” Jeune said. “The residency has shown over the years that if you let people do things freely, they will do it. We give them comfort not just in the accommodation and location, but also in the interactions with one another. Filmmakers need a lot of professional support in this industry.”
Actor and director Takumi Saitoh added: “Although we have art colleges and universities in Japan, we don’t really have a residency like this that will support filmmakers throughout the filmmaking process. We have to start building a base for that.”
Saitoh is head of the jury for TIFF’s Ethical Film Award this year.
Saitoh said that he attended the Cannes Film Festival for the first time this year and found it a very rich and meaningful experience, especially when exchanging perspectives with international peers.
