39th Tokyo International Film Festival Sets Takahisa Zeze, Godzilla Minus Zero, and Colony for Gala Screenings

Since 2024, I’ve had the distinct fortune of covering the Tokyo International Film Festival, which boasts one-of-one programming comprising world premieres of the best in contemporary Asian film, experimental cinema, and repertory classics. I’ll be present for the 39th edition, which begins on October 26, and for which the three centerpiece screenings have been announced.

I’m glad to see there’s a new film by the great Takahisa Zeze—now that Kiyoshi Kurosawa is fully canonized, western cinephilia should get to him next—who will open the festival with Sukiyaki, which “tells the dramatic stories of three artists who inspired people in postwar Japan, interwoven with a collection of musical masterpieces.” Junichi Okada (From Up on Poppy Hill), Tori Matsuzaka (Shin Kamen Rider), and Taiga Nakano (Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle) star in the film, which Toho will open domestically on Christmas.

Following its New York Film Festival world premiere, Yamazaki Takashi’s Godzilla Minus Zero will make its domestic debut just ahead of a November 3 release. Festival director Ichiyama Shozo doesn’t mince words in calling it “a masterpiece that was truly meant to be made in these challenging times.”

Finally, Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony will close the 39th TIFF on November 4. We recently shared an extensive interview with the Train to Busan director and his star Jun Ji-hyun, noting that the film “helped resurrect Korean moviegoing after a long, fallow stretch.”

See descriptions of each film below and check back for our coverage beginning in late October.

Sukiyaki (Takahisa Zeze)
In 1963, as Japan continued its recovery from postwar turbulence, a pop song reached a historic milestone in Japanese music history, sweeping the US Billboard charts, holding the No.1 spot fort hree consecutive weeks. That song is “Sukiyaki.” This musical drama chronicles the fateful union of the three creative forces behind the legendary song: brilliant composer Nakamura Hachidai (Okada Junichi), lyricist Ei Rokusuke (Matsuzaka Tori), and iconic singer Sakamoto Kyu (Nakano Taiga), bringing their passions and conflicts to life.

Godzilla Minus Zero (Yamazaki Takashi)
War reduced Japan to zero, and Godzilla plunged it even further, into minus territory. Two years have passed since then, and the country has faced agonizing struggles to achieve recovery and finally return to normalcy. But just as humanity is clinging to a hard-won peace, a new threat strikes, crushing hope in an instant. This film goes beyond Godzilla Minus One, a world-captivating film that won the Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards®. There is no third time. Everything ends here.

Colony (Yeon Sang-ho)
A sudden, unidentified bioterror attack strikes a skyscraper in downtown Seoul. Professor Se Jeong, visiting for a biotech conference, finds herself trapped inside the locked-down building and witnesses the fast-moving infected evolving with a collective intelligence. This non-stop action-thriller premiered in a Cannes Midnight Screening before sweeping box office charts in Korea and beyond.