Tokyo Film Festival Features First Animated Competition Entry
Sun Xun's Magic Atlas, handcrafted over a decade, is the first animated feature in Tokyo's main competition as TIFFCOM opens October 28.
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival has opened with animation in a prominent position, screening through November 4. Sun Xun's Magic Atlas is the first animated feature ever selected for the festival's main competition, according to cartoonbrew.com.
Magic Atlas was handcrafted over a decade. Ryota Fujitsu serves as animation programming advisor for the festival.
The festival program also includes Shingo Natsume's Ghost – End of Night, alongside Cherry & Virgin, Grotesqqque and We Are Aliens.
Symposium sessions will feature directors Chika Nagaoka, Kotono Watanabe and Ai Yoshimura.
TIFFCOM market opens October 28
The industry market TIFFCOM opens on October 28, 2026, and runs through October 30. Its program examines anime's overseas growth, international co-production and the market for Japanese IP, with speakers including Taiki Sakurai, Ilan Urroz and Ervin Han.
Sakurai is a Ghost in the Shell writer and former Netflix executive who launched the studio Salamander Pictures, whose first short is 20001 An Earth Odyssey.
Quick answers
When does the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival run?
Screenings run through November 4, 2026.
When is TIFFCOM 2026?
The industry market runs October 28–30, 2026.
Which animated film is in Tokyo's main competition?
Sun Xun's Magic Atlas, the first animated feature ever selected for the main competition.