That’s a Wrap, Folks: A Review of TIFF 2025

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Ten days, 184 films, and almost 70,000 admissions later, the 38^th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) wrapped on November 5, with the curtain falling on the closing ceremony. A celebration not only of filmic endeavor, but also one of global creative cooperation, TIFF may have been confined to the Hibiya-Marunouchi-Yurakucho-Ginza area, but it truly felt like a cosmopolitan festival. 

The closing ceremony, held at Toho Cinemas Hibiya, summarized the plethora of events that took place during the festival. Far from merely showcasing new films, TIFF sported a series of interactive creator symposiums, masterclasses, roundtables, and lounge events, many of which illuminated a necessary stage light on demographics historically left on the cutting-room floor, including women behind the camera and young directors hoping to break through.

However, with so many varied entries from all corners of the globe, it would be a fool’s errand to objectively curate a list of top recommendations. So, here is but a small and (importantly) subjective film flight from TIFF 2025. For this review, no films will be included from the previously published preview. 

Here are my five personal favorites listed below:

Blonde (Japan, Yuichiro Sakashita)

Owing to the much written about homogeneous nature of Japanese society, the nail that stands out is often hammered down. A class of middle-school pupils, led by Tamaki Shiratori’s Madori, seek to challenge some of these ubiquitously enforced yet rarely questioned rules. Following the forced hair-dyeing of a girl with naturally brown hair, Madori’s class, in turn, dyes their hair blonde in protest. Class teacher Ichikawa, played by Takanori Iwata, simultaneously struggles to juggle his responsibility as an educator and societal role model, along with his introspective questioning as a 30-year-old who is losing his grip on his own youth. With the school scandal quickly evolving into a social media sensation, the incident quickly shines a bright light on Japan’s uniform enforcement of rules.

A comedic and yet sobering narrative from writer/director Sakashita, Blonde is certain to resonate with multiple age groups. From those currently questioning the suffocating and somewhat nonsensical rules that dominate school life, to those who are ageing into a rapidly developing and judgmental society while hoping to retain some of their childlike wonder, Blonde explores the challenge of questioning the rigid expectations of a society that, whilst modern in name, refuses to adapt to the changing times.

Hen (Greece, György Pálfi)

At times, watching a film can feel rather voyeuristic. Be it through psychological narrative framing or intimate camera angles, an audience member may sometimes feel like they are intruding upon another person’s story. Classics like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window exemplify such a spectating confliction. More than 70 years later, Greek director György Pálfi brings us Hen, with the audience seeing through the eyes of the titular bird as it escapes the confines of a livestock warehouse, only to fall into the middle of a rural family’s struggle with a mafioso human-smuggling operation. 

To paraphrase Hitchcock himself, if the sound was to go off in a good film, the audience would still have a pretty clear idea of what was going on. This observation on the fundamental nature of visual storytelling is core to what makes Pálfi’s film fly. As watchers, we are constrained to the viewpoint of a hen, though this distinctive perspective further permits us to witness the spectrum of events that may be closed off to any human. No one cares about a bird. Therefore, we see the struggles of every character unobstructed, with the narrative framing a philosophical conundrum — human or animal, we will all eventually eat one another if we must. 

Tunnels: Sun in the Dark (Vietnam, Bùi Thac Chuyên)

Since the fall of Saigon and reunification of Vietnam in 1975, the topic of the conflict has arguably been the most covered regarding war cinema. Be it Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, or Stone’s Platoon, narratives following the US Army’s POV during the Vietnam War are plentiful. However, director Bùi Thac Chuyên highlights those often unseen, quite literally, as Tunnels follows a group of guerrilla Viet Cong fighters as they protect an intelligence team deep within the complex network underneath Saigon. 

Rather than focusing directly on the conflict itself, Tunnels seeks to explore the personal relationships of the fighters, including men, women, and children, as they navigate not only war but the emotional tensions that inevitably rise when life is lived so far underground. Personally, I would argue that Bùi Thac Chuyên’s film epitomizes the importance of international film festivals. As for many Western viewers, Tunnels may be their first framing of the Vietnamese conflict from the ‘enemy’ point of view. This is not to excuse individual actions, but rather to promote the need for greater exposure to information, especially regarding international conflict. Aside from topical relevance, Chuyên’s film is masterfully shot and impactfully acted, with the oppressively cramped atmosphere of Tunnels leaving the viewer short of breath by its conclusion.

Blue Boy Trial (Japan, Kasho Iizuka)

The right to happiness. An ideal that many strive for and all should be entitled to. Article 13 of the Japanese constitution is a human rights provision, detailing an individual’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, provided said pursuit does not damage the public welfare. This article was at the heart of a landmark 1960s legal case concerning sex reassignment surgery in Japan; it further sparked debate within Kasho Iizuka’s Blue Boy Trial. The titular ‘blue boys’ (a slang term for transgender individuals assigned male at birth) take the stand in Iizuka’s courtroom drama.

The subject of Blue Boy Trial may be a defendant doctor, but the far-reaching ramifications of the 1960s case, and the debate that Iizuka’s film may spark over 60 years later, question a societal attitude to individual autonomy. With striking performances from Miyu Nakagawa and Ryo Nishikido, the classical courtroom narrative structure is paired perfectly with Blue Boy Trial’s enduring subject relevance.

Atropia (United States, Hailey Gates)

Named after a series of mock training villages in Fort Irwin, California, Atropia follows a band of actors as they perform to prepare a fresh batch of recruits to enter the Iraq War. Gate’s narrative is simultaneously comedic and retrospectively profound in its tonal approach, which, while occasionally getting lost in the fog, produces a poignant critique of the US’s underestimation of the cultural complexities of the Middle East. 

A post-facts era satire that burns brightest during its more intimate character moments, Atropia can sometimes suffer from chordal whiplash, but its overarching critique of the asininity of Bush era patriotism stands above. The recipient of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize, Gate’s film should leave audiences suitably nihilistic when the credits roll. 

Tokyo International Film Festival Award Winners

Annemarie Jacir’s historical drama, Palestine 36, took home the festival’s highest honor, the Tokyo Grand Prix award. Recounting the 1936-39 Arab revolt against British colonial rule in Palestine, Jacir’s film further received a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival and was subsequently selected as Palestine’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming 98^th Academy Awards.

Full list of winners (from films submitted to the Competition category)

• Tokyo Grand Prix, The Governor of Tokyo Award: Palestine 36 (Palestine/UK/France/Denmark)
• Special Jury Prize: We Are the Fruits of the Forest (Cambodia/France)
• Award for Best Director: Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis (Heads or Tails?, Italy/USA)
• Zhang Lu (Mothertongue, China)
• Award for Best Actress: Momoko Fukuchi and Naomi Kawase (Echoes of Motherhood, Japan)
• Award for Best Actor: Wang Chuanjun (Mothertongue, China)
• Award for Best Artistic Contribution: Mother (Belgium/North Macedonia)
• Audience Award: Blonde (Japan)

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