• Business Overview
• Outline of the event
• Programme
• Implementation Report
• Pre-Event & Collaborative Planning
• Special Site
• executive committee
• Contact us

Business Overview

The Kyoto International Student Film Festival is the largest international student film festival in Japan, planned and operated by university students from the Kansai region, mainly in Kyoto. The purpose of this program is to collect independent films produced by students from all over the world and discover human resources and talents who will lead the future of cinema.
Historically, Kyoto is a “film town” that still inherits the cultural heritage of the early days of Japan cinema, and it is also a “university city and student town” where students account for 10% of Kyoto’s population. The festival aims to revitalize Kyoto by discovering and introducing talents who can add new dimensions to cinema from among films from around the world full of many possibilities, creating a place for international exchange and mutual understanding.

Outline of the event

The 28th Kyoto International Student Film Festival

Schedule:

February 20 (Fri) – February 23 (Mon), 2026

Meeting place:

The Museum of Kyoto Film Theater

Sponsorship:

University Consortium Kyoto

Co sponsored by:

The Museum of Kyoto

Planning & Management:

The 28th Kyoto International Student Film Festival Executive Committee

Operational support:

Kyoto International Student Film Festival Planning Review Committee

Assistance:

Japan Arts Foundation / Nissha Foundation

Support:

Kyoto Prefecture / Kyoto City / Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education / Kyoto City Board of Education / The Japan Foundation
NPO Japan Film Industry Promotion Organization / Cooperative Japan Film Directors Association / Asahi Shimbun Kyoto Bureau
UNIJAPAN / Kyoto Shimbun / NHK Kyoto Broadcasting Station / KBS Kyoto
FM Kyoto / Japan Federation of Film Producers
J:COM Kyoto Miyabijon / Cineaste Organization Osaka

Support:

Torikizoku / Eternal Hospitality Group Co., Ltd. / Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of Visual Studies / Director’s Union Co., Ltd. / Kitakaisakusaken Co., Ltd. / Gengenna Office Co., Ltd. / Tachibana Co., Ltd. / TYO Co., Ltd. / Kanpaku Co., Ltd. / Movie Natalie / Entertainment Information Media U-WATCH / Kyoto Prefectural Cooperative Federation / Face Co., Ltd. / HTP FILM / Leaf KYOTO

Programme

Timetable

Ticket Information

【About same-day tickets】

• Same-day tickets will be sold at the reception on the day.
• Same-day tickets can be paid in cash or PayPay. (We do not support other cashless payments.) ）
• If you want to secure a seat in advance, please purchase an advance ticket. (All seats are unreserved, so you cannot specify a seat.) ）

【About advance tickets】

• Advance tickets will be sold at LivePocket-Ticket-. On Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., we will post a purchase page on the https://www.kisfvf.com/info/.
• Sales period: January 20, 2026 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. ~ February 19, 2026 (Thursday)
• Advance tickets must be paid in advance online. Depending on the payment method, a separate fee will be charged. Please check the details of the fee on the purchase screen.
• One advance ticket (electronic ticket) purchased at LivePocket-Ticket- is required per visitor. Please present the QR code of the electronic ticket at the reception on the day of the event to receive a paper ticket.
• Admission will be provided in order of reference number.
• Doors open 15 minutes before the screening starts. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the screening. After opening, you will be guided in the order of arrival.
• Those who purchase advance tickets are guaranteed admission, but please come with plenty of time to spare because all seats are unreserved.

[Other]

• Students must present their student ID.
• Members of the Kyoto Museum of Culture Friends Association, as well as those who have a physical disability certificate, a rehabilitation certificate, a mental disability health and welfare certificate, an atomic bomb survivor certificate, and a war invalid certificate, can view the selected works for free. When viewing, please present your membership card or various notebooks at the reception desk. If you are eligible for the above free viewing and want to watch the final judge’s plan and special exhibition, you can watch it for a flat rate of 500 yen (same-day ticket). In addition, advance application for the final judge project and special project (advance ticket: 300 yen) is possible. In that case, a separate fee will be charged depending on the payment method.
• Admission for one caregiver per person with a disability is free.
• On the day of the event, you can show your stub to see the permanent exhibition of the Kyoto Museum of Culture.
• Tickets cannot be canceled, changed, or refunded due to customer convenience. Please note. However, if there are reasons due to the organizer (Kyoto International Student Film Festival) (e.g., cancellation of a guest on stage, screening, etc.), we will respond individually.
• For ticket inquiries, please contact the 28th Kyoto International Student Film Festival Office (075-353-9189, Tuesday ~ Saturday 9:00~17:00).

Competition Winners (16 works in total)

[Program A]

『Ru Guo Dang Shi』 / WHAT IF Wang, Ziyu 19 points / 2024 / China	“Mimi’s Conjecture” / MIMI Yang, Miaojing 25 points / 2025 / China
『Au Calme Des Cigales』 / The Calm of the Cicadas Sarah Deredec / Camille Collins / Clémence Ansquer / Juliette Le Hir / Chun-i Cheng / Ambre Muamba / Salomé Leroy / Deredec, Sarah / Collins, Camille / Ansquer, Clémence / Le Hir, Juliette / Cheng, Chun-i / Muamba, Ambre / Leroy, Salomé 5 min / 2024 / France	“Unfunny Entertainer” /Chuckle Chuckle Nishida, Yuka 75 min / 2025 / Japan

[Program B]

Kuna-manobu Sato, Yuki 20 min / 2025 / Japan	『Fuck the Cistem』 Tajo Hurrle / Hurrle, Tajo 24 min / 2025 / Germany
『Welcome Home Freckles』 박 희주 / Park, Huiju 26 min / 2025 / UK/Korea	『Paradox』 Yoshizawa, Taiyo 30 mins / 2025 / Japan

[Program C]

Time Lapse Chen, Unity 13 points / 2025 / China	“White Scroll” / Unanswered Yelken Nazilik / Like 30 points / 2025 / China
『보다 보다』 / Looky-Loo 정 지원 / Jung, Jiwon 18 min / 2025 / Korea	“Like a flower blooming today / The Bloom Beyond Time Inaba, Taiki 49 min / 2025 / Japan

[Program D]

IN THE MIST Liu, Renming 5 points / 2024 / China	『모범상』 / The Good Student 박 호범 / Park, Hobeom 16 mins / 2024 / Korea
『Landflucht』 / Fleeing from the Farm Anna Dokuchaeva / Sine Juhl / Dokuchaeva, Anna / Juhl, Sine 5 min / 2024 / Germany	Imaginary Line Sakamoto, Kensho 91 min / 2024 / Japan

Special program

Director Junichi Yasuda Screening + Talk Show (2/20 screening)

“Rice”
118 min / 2017 / Japan

Guest: Junichi Yasuda (film director)

Final Jury Proposal

Director Tomohisa Taguchi Screening Project (2/21 Screening)
Guest: Tomohisa Taguchi Director
Screening: “Tunnel to Summer, Goodbye Exit”
2022 / 83 min / Japan

©2022 Yamomi / Shogakukan / Movie “Tunnel to Summer, Goodbye Exit” Production Committee

“Ryo Takebayashi Screening Project” (2/22 screening)

Guest: Ryo Takebayashi Director
Screening: “Big House”
123 min / 2024 / Japan

©CHOCOLATE Inc.

“Director Yoko Yamanaka Screening Project” (2/23 screening)

Guest: Yoko Yamanaka Director
Screening film: “Amiko”
66 mins / 2017 / Japan

©2017 Yoko Yamanaka

Final Judges

Tomohisa Taguchi (Animation Director) Born in 1985. Born in Okayama Prefecture. Animation director. After graduating from the Faculty of Arts at Osaka Seikei University, he worked as a production assistant at Anime International Company. In 2014, he made his directorial debut with “Persona the Movie 3 #2Midsummer Knightʼs Dream”. The movie “Tunnel to Summer, Goodbye Exit”, released in 2022, was released not only in Japan but also abroad. The film won the Special Prize at the Pucheon International Animation Film Festival in South Korea and the “Paul Grimaud Award” at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, which is the largest animation film festival in the world. His major directorial works include “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War”, “Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World- the Animated Series”, and “Akudama Drive”.	Ryo Zhulin (Film Director) He started his career as a commercial director, working on JICA’s international cooperation video projects and various documentary programs, and at the same time has a wide range of activities, including music videos, remote theater, and films. The youth reality movie “Shiori 14 years old” released in March 2021 started with one theater, but it became a hot topic on social media and expanded to 45 cities. The feature film “MONDAYS/This time loop, it won’t end unless your boss notices” (released in 2022), which he directed and co-wrote, won the Best New Director and Best Editing Awards at the 32nd Japan Film Critics Awards. The film has garnered international acclaim, including a nomination for the New Visions section of the Sitges Catalan International Film Festival and a Grand Prix at the Vevey Fanny International Film Festival. The movie “Big House” won the 34th Japan Film Critics Award Documentary Award.
Yamanaka Yamanaka (Film Director) Born in 1997. Born in Nagano Prefecture. Film director. After dropping out of the Department of Film at Nihon University’s Faculty of Arts, he gathered friends on social media and produced his first directorial work “Amiko”, which won the Audience Award at the PFF Awards 2017. The following year, he became the youngest person in history to be invited to the 68th Berlin International Film Festival and screened the film. It received high praise from Hong Kong, Canada, New York, and other countries at home and abroad. In 2024, “The Desert of Namibia,” her first full-fledged feature film, won the International Federation of Film Critics Award, becoming the youngest female director in history to win the International Federation of Film Critics Award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Wolves section. In his directorial works, he participated in the omnibus film “21st Century Girl” produced by Yuki Yamato in the film “Spinning Tenko and Dorimu Mother”, the TV drama “Good Night, On the Shore Again” (2019), and the NDJC program “Pisces Mutual Death” (2020).

Result of Submission

Implementation Report

The 28th edition of the Kyoto International Student Film Festival was held at the Kyoto Museum of Culture Film Theater for four days from February 20 (Friday) to February 23 (Monday, holiday), 2025. This year, a total of 825 films were submitted, including 192 films from Japan and 633 films from overseas, and 16 films selected by the executive committee composed of students were screened.
At the opening ceremony on the 20th, on behalf of the organizers, a speech by Katsuhiro Ohara, President of the University Consortium Kyoto, was read, followed by a message from the Mayor of Kyoto, Koji Matsui, in a video message. Finally, Natsuki Makino opened with a greeting from the executive committee chairperson. At the award ceremony on the last day, the “Grand Prix”, “Semi-Grand Prix”, and this year’s final judges, the “Final Jury Award” named after the directors Tomohisa Taguchi, Ryo Takebayashi, and Yoko Yamanaka, and the “Executive Committee Award” selected by the Executive Committee were announced.
Finally, with the closing remarks by Executive Committee Chairman Makino, the 28th Kyoto International Student Film Festival came to an end.
The winning works are as follows:

Announcement of the results of the competition section

Grand Prix
Grand Prix

“MIMI’s Conjecture”
Yang, Miaojing
China / 2025 / 25min / Fiction
Communication University of China

≪Synopsis≫
In 2013, a small county town in northwestern China. Mimi, a 10-year-old girl, was treated as a “boy” by adults. Mimi struggles desperately to prove that she is a girl, but she almost makes a big mistake in the process.

Runner-up Grand Prix
Semi Grand Prix

『Welcome Home Freckles』
박희주 / Park, Huiju
UK/Korea/2025/26min/Documentary
National Film and Television School

≪Synopsis≫
After four years, her daughter returns to her parents’ home in Daegu, South Korea. To put an end to the “domestic war” that has tormented her since childhood.
Families have been hurting each other for many years, without ever learning how to live in harmony. Even if you try to find peace, the wounds of the past still cannot be healed. Through dialogue with her parents, the daughter learns about the chain of domestic violence deeply rooted in this family. And finally, she realized that she was the only one who could break the negative cycle.

Final Jury Prize
Tomohisa Taguchi Award

『Landflucht / Fleeing from the farm』
Анна Докучаева、Sine Juhl / Dokuchaeva, Anna、Juhl, Sine
germania / 2024 / 5min / animation
Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF

≪Synopsis≫
Two friends, a cow and a rooster, are tired of the boring and tiring life of livestock and flee into the wild forest to start a new and exciting life as a wild animal. However, even in the deep forest, it seems that the real life they seek does not exist.

Final Jury Prize
Bamboo Forest Liang Award

“Imaginary Line”
Sakamoto, Kensho
Japan / 2024 / 91min / Fiction
Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School

≪Synopsis≫
Fumiko Yama (Yuka Nakajima) continued to make films with her best friend Mohammed Yume (LEIYA), who loves music. One day, while traveling together, it is discovered that Yume does not have a “status of residence” and is detained in an immigration facility. The two are torn apart by a cruel fate, and their friendship is tested. After suffering, Fumiko and Yume stand up with a little hope…

Final Jury Prize
Yamanaka Yamazo Award

『모범상 / The Good Student』
박호범/Park, Hobeom
Korea / 2024 / 16min / Fiction
Soongsil University

≪Synopsis≫
Seung-ah supports her best friend So-hee, who has a brain lesion disorder, as a peer helper. One day, Seung-ah receives the sad news that her final exam score has dropped significantly. However, at the same time, he learns that his achievements in supporting Sohee enthusiastically will be recognized and he will be awarded by the Office of Education.
Later, when the teacher announces to the class, “So-hee’s final exam scores have improved significantly,” Seung-ah has mixed feelings. As she sat next to Sohee, her heart was filled with mixed emotions. Furthermore, as So-hee continues to seek help with her studies, Seung-ah gradually becomes overwhelmed by the pressure.

Executive Committee Award

“Chuckle Chuckle”
Nishida,Yuka
Japan / 2025 / 75min / Fiction
Kyoto University of the Arts

≪Synopsis≫
Sawara, who aims to become an entertainer, has been active as a duo with his partner Setoguchi called “Super Sweet and Sweet Pork”, but the duo disbanded due to an incident. In front of Sawara, who stopped in the middle of a dream, one day “the ideal self that sold explosively as an entertainer” suddenly appears. The alter ego talks about the know-how of success and begins to intervene in Sawara’s life……

Pre-Event & Collaborative Planning

[Pre-event]

Pre-event “Life and Death: Film and Religion: A Time to Reflect Life and Question Life”
・Date and time: Saturday, January 17, 2026 19:30~21:30
・Venue: Kiyomizu-dera Kyodo (non-public important cultural property)
・Screenings:
1. “The hills of birds” (Korea / 2024 / 27 min / fiction) Director: Lee Euntaek
2. “Vortex” (Korea / 2024 / 19 min / Fiction) Director: JANG Jae-Woo
3. “Nigatori First Time Toya Nitsu” (Japan / 2024 / 16 min. / Animation) Director: Yuri Kurihara
Contents: A pre-event was held at the Kyodo of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, which is a non-public important cultural property. From last year’s 27th Kyoto International Student Film Festival, three films that reflect on the lives of others were screened. After the screening of the film, guests were Kiyoaki Mori (Deacon of Kiyomizu-dera Temple) and Keiko Takagi (Honorary Director of the Grief Care Research Institute of Sophia University / President of the Institute for the Development of All Human Resources), and a talk session on “life”, “living” and “dying” was moderated by Hiroshi Yamaguchi (Professor, Ritsumeikan University, Promotion of Common Education), Director of the Student Support Division of the University Consortium Kyoto. The time spent screening films and discussing life and death in a special place called Kiyomizu-dera was a valuable opportunity to learn about the Kyoto International Student Film Festival, and at the same time, it was an impressive moment for each participant to quietly face their own lives and ways of life.

【Collaborative Planning】

Tokyo Student Film Festival× Kyoto International Student Film Festival
Date and time: Sunday, August 17, 2025
We have carried out a collaboration project with the Tokyo Student Film Festival. At Euro Live Shibuya, last year’s Grand Prix work “How to Find Your Comrade in a Trance?” We screened all four selected films. After the screening, I also participated in a talk session with the jury of this year’s Tokyo Student Film Festival and the student directors who submitted their works. It was a day when I was able to have a deeper understanding of independent films, such as the differences between East and West student film festivals and the points that are conscious when making works.

Kyoto Film Award “Kyoto Cinemask Air”
Date and time: Saturday, September 13, 2025
As an event related to the Kyoto Film Awards sponsored by Kyoto City, at an outdoor screening held at the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, last year’s Grand Prix film “How to Find Your Comrade in a Trance?” directed by WU Zhenxu, was screened. I was able to screen it. Before the screening, the executive committee members took the stage and had the opportunity to introduce the Grand Prix films and the Kyoto International Student Film Festival Executive Committee. I was also involved in the setup of the day, and it was a valuable experience to let visitors know about the film festival through talking to them. In addition, I was able to learn and gain various insights about the operation of outdoor screenings, and it was a very meaningful day.

Kyoto Student Festival Film Festival Booth
Date and time: Sunday, October 13, 2025
Venue: In front of Heian Shrine, Okazaki Promenade area
Details: We exhibited a booth at Okazaki Ground. At the booth, we exhibited panels introducing activities and distributed pamphlets. They also took the stage on the South Sub-Stage and the North Main Stage, which was a good opportunity to introduce the Kyoto International Student Film Festival and the activities of the Executive Committee members.

KRP FRIDAY NIGHT THEATER ~Kyoto International Student Film Festival~
Date and time: Friday, November 14, 2025
We collaborated with KRP “Emergent Live”. At Kyoto Research Park GOCONC, two films were screened, “The hills of birds” (directed by Lee Euntaek) and “Hitohira” (directed by Natsumi Yoshida and Rika Machida), which won the 22nd Final Jury Award (Takuji Suzuki Award), and then four executive committee members took the stage to talk about their thoughts and appeals about the films. In addition, we gave an introduction to the 28th Kyoto International Student Film Festival and had the opportunity to learn about the Kyoto International Student Film Festival.

Kyoto Historica International Film Festival “Historica Zashiki” Historica Zashiki”
Date and time: Sunday, December 7, 2025
We collaborated with the Kyoto Historica International Film Festival’s “Historica Tatami Room”. Director Junta Yamaguchi, who served as the final jury member of the 26th Kyoto International Student Film Festival, and two executive committee members who are currently studying film production at the university took the stage to talk and answer questions about Yamaguchi’s filmmaking. For the participants, it was a valuable opportunity to experience the forefront of filmmaking and to further increase interest in the festival.

Special Site

@kisfvf	official website

executive committee

The Kyoto International Film Festival is looking for students who will enliven the festival.
You can learn the know-how of festival management through a series of activities such as solicitation of films, judging, public relations activities, and sponsorship requests.
Please feel free to contact us.

activity

Contact us

Kyoto International Student Film Festival
〒600-8216 Dori Shiokoji Shioru Shiojiru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City Campus Plaza Kyoto
TEL: 075-353-9189 (Tuesday ~ Saturday 9:00 ~ 17:00) FAX: 075-353-9101
E-MAIL: info-kisfvf-ml ■consortium.or.jp (Please replace ■ with @)
HP：https://www.kisfvf.com/