CJFC is accepting submissions for the 2024 Festival.
Regular Deadline: January 15th, 2024.
The country of production must include Japan.
We are looking forward to receiving your amazing work!
The Audience Award for the 2023 CJFC:
Hoarder on the Border
For the 2023 CJFC, “Hoarder on the Border” received the Audience Award. Director KAYANO Takayuki has been presented with a commemorative plaque, and we are pleased to share his acceptance remarks with you. Congratulations to Director Kayano and everyone involved in the project!
2023 Official Selection
(all programs have ended)
In-Theater Screenings (Chicago, IL, 2 films)
Festival Opening
Drama | Japan | 2022 | 101 min. | North American Premiere | ©2022 Hoarder on the Border Film Partners
Thursday, June 22 @ 7:00 pm CDT
at MUSIC BOX THEATRE, Chicago, IL
Hoarder on the Border
Ritsuki Shirataka, a promising pianist, faces an abrupt end to his career due to unexplained hand tremors…
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Festival Closing
Drama | Japan | 2022 | 112 min. | ©LesPros entertainment
Saturday, July 1 @ 4:30 pm CDT
at MUSIC BOX THEATRE, Chicago, IL
Angry Son
Jungo, a high school student in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture, has a Filipino mother who works at …
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This program is a part of the 2023 CJFC X OAFF
Virtual Screenings (U.S. only, and ended)
Drama | Japan | 2021 | 64 Min. | International Premiere | ©2021 "Backlight" FILM
Backlight
In the 1970s, 22-year-old Akira, who has feelings for his senior in university, Yoshioka, decides to take him …
Documentary | Japan | 2020 | 70 min. | International Premiere | ©2020 Toshinori Tanaka
Resonance
Takuji, raised in Tokyo, felt disconnected from nature and the changing city. He chose to move to Okinawa …
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Experimental | Japan | 2021 | 72 min. | International Premiere | ©Takashi Ito
Toward Zero
Swing a bat, drag a shovel... A compilation work studded with ITO Takashi’s distinctive, powerful …
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Drama | Japan | 2021 | 99 min. | International Premiere | ©2023 Twilight Cinema Blues Film Partners
Twilight Cinema Blues
Kondo, a man with a reason for returning to his hometown of Ginpei-cho, where he spent his …
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Documentary | Japan | 2021 | 120 min. | International Premiere | ©Uzomuzo Productions
Underdogs
This documentary follows the lives of four elderly Japanese men living in Manila's impoverished …
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2023 Special Presentation (Ended)
CJFC X OAFF, Aichi Int. Women’s FF & TIMF
Programs from Three Film Festivals in Japan
(Virtual Screenings, U.S. Only)
Drama | Japan | 2023 | 66 min. | New Director | North American Premiere | ©2023 Cafune Film Partners
Cafune
Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF)
High school senior Mio becomes pregnant with her boyfriend Nagisa. Unable to confess her pregnancy …
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Documentary | Japan | 2020 | 84 min. | U.S. Premiere | ©2020 Studio AYA
I Quit Being “Friends”
Aichi International Women’s Film Festival
“Ma-chan," exhausted from constantly trying to read the atmosphere and struggling to interact with …
Drama | Japan | 2022 | 72 min. | New Director | North American Premiere | ©2022 NOT BEER Film Partners
NOT BEER
Tokyo Independent Movie Festival (TIMF)
Two fraudsters, Samejima and Oshikiri, secure a deal with a wealthy wife, Harue, to buy gold from her …
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