THE JAPANESE Film Festival 2025 (JFF) returns to Davao City with a lineup of 12 movies of beloved classics and critically acclaimed blockbusters from Oct 10 to 19 at the SM Lanang Cinema.
In its second visit to Davao, the festival is themed “Bridg(e)ing” on connecting the past and future, bridging film storytelling to cultures, as well as to inspire people to build metaphorical bridges in terms of connecting with each other rather than putting up walls.
JFF Davao coordinator Angely Chi highlighted that the festival will feature timeless masterpieces, namely the highly anticipated “Seven Samurai” film directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1957, known as one of the highest-grossing domestic films in Japan at the time and regarded as among the most influential films in cinema history.
The festival will also screen “Ghost in the Shell“, an animated cult classic film from 1995 directed by Mamoru Oshii, and Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning “Spirited Away“, an animated film by Studio Ghibli in 2001.
JFF 2025’s second run will officially kick off on Oct 10 at SM Lanang Cinema 3. The opening will premiere a 4K remastered version of the popular romance film “Love Letter” (1995) by Shunji Iwai that has screened in over 20 countries since its release.
Chi said that JFF 2025, held last February at SM City Davao, was a success and had a good reception with a high number of audiences of adults and children alike, similar to last year’s film festival.
“I can also see that the viewers are diverse. Sometimes families from different regions, senior citizens, not just kids,” Chi said during the PEP Talks Forum on Oct 3.
She added that the Philippines tops as the country with the most viewership in the Japanese Film Festival around the world.
This year’s annual film festival began its regional run in SM Cinemas in the country, which began on Sept. 26 at SM Baguio City, followed by SM City Cebu, SM Lanang, SM City Clark, and will conclude at SM City Manila.
