The 2nd AI Film Festival Japan — Official Nominees & Finalists Announcement
Selected from over 730 submissions across more than 60 countries worldwide through rigorous jury review, we proudly unveil the "Official Selections (68 Works)" and "Featured Finalists (21 Works)."
* The final winners for each category will be officially revealed during the AIFJ 2026 Awards Ceremony on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at Tokyo Innovation Base (TIB).
Curated Competition Finalists (21 Films)
* Click any card to view synopsis & director profile
Vincenzo Lo Re
Italy
In rural Sicily, the discovery of a hidden treasure awakens an old bargain between faith, superstition and the Devil, turning the folk belief of the trovatura into a dark, vaguely miraculous western.
Int.Lab
Japan
Rain falls on Tokyo. Madame takes shelter in a café and meets a young ballet student. When she ventures back into the rain, an extraordinary encounter awaits.
Norihiko Mizushima
Japan
Two delinquent high school students enter a comedy competition, discovering the difficulty and joy of making people laugh in this coming-of-age drama.
Kentaro Osawa
Japan
Part of the TYO Inc. 'TOKYO STORIES' AI Project, exploring an introspective portrait of Tokyo through a sophisticated generative documentary format.
Julien Prevost
France
A man who possesses the power to inhabit others' bodies shares his uncanny story — an evocative metaphor for lives lived by proxy through media.
Daniel Bjarnason
Iceland
Nine-year-old Aaron spends his morning caring for his mother while hoping for a school trip, realizing a truth no child should have to carry.
Shoumitro Choudhury
India
After 58 years together, an elderly man faces an unbearable loss. An unexpected encounter with a young boy sets a poignant journey of love and memory in motion.
Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Kazakhstan
A brilliantly sharp, satirical behind-the-scenes drama exploring the comic extremes of film production through radical AI aesthetic experimentation.
Keita Yoshie
Japan
Discovered sleeping within crystalline formations in the deep sea, a mysterious girl leads salvagers into a confrontation with corporate powers and an ancient truth.
Leo Neumann
Germany
An elderly lady is lured by a cunning little fox into a magical realm of instant wishes, in a handcrafted animation augmented harmoniously by machine learning.
Min Heo / Minho Son / Hanmin Kim
South Korea
A sinister reality show promises eternal sanctuary to whichever classic fairy-tale character can prove they have endured the greatest tragedy.
Viktoria Yudina
Russia
Beside stone Atlantes in a frozen city, an aging man experiences the quiet expansion of his inner spirit beyond monumental architectural stone.
Hojin Lee
South Korea
As her eyesight slowly fades, a schoolgirl gently preserves the fleeting sensations of youth, touch, and first love alongside twilight fireflies.
Edmond Yang
Norway
A deeply personal animated reflection on growing up as a multicultural child in suburban Oslo, adapted from the director's heartfelt national newspaper op-ed.
Zuxin Hou / Mark Wachholz
China, Germany
A mesmerizing philosophical exploration: what if our memories were never meant to be possessed, but rather sent forward to the beings of tomorrow?
Arata Fukoe
Japan
A radical vision from TYO Inc., capturing the vibrant kinetic pulse and subcultural currents of Tokyo through progressive generative image synthesis.
Masaaki Uchino
Japan
Synthesizing real online testimonies into imagined digital avatars, this experimental work reinterprets Tokyo as a psychological state rather than a geographic place.
Stéphane Benini
France
An old man and a secluded coastal lighthouse amid the ghosts of a bygone life. An intimate meditation proving technology shines best when serving tender human stories.
Ayano Kotakari
Japan
Composed for the visual theme 'Laundromat,' this score contrasts handcrafted piano melodies with AI-generated dissonance to map an inner emotional awakening.
Masayoshi Kurihara
Japan
An intricate score meticulously constructed from Suno ideation, Claude frame-level image analysis, and AIVA MIDI programming, synthesized purely from code.
821R (Honey R)
Japan
An explosive animated theme score blending Suno-generated textures with virtuoso human editing, frame synchronization, and mastering polish.
Official Screenings & Nominated Works (All 68 Titles)
| # | ID | TITLE | CATEGORY | DIRECTOR | COUNTRY | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AIFILM1348 | ABYSS SIREN | Animation | Keita Yoshie | Japan | 08:47 |
| 2 | AIFILM1049 | THE AMAZING KITSUVERSE | Kids | Leo Neumann | Germany | 05:44 |
| 3 | AIFILM1658 | Ticket to Neverland | Animation | Min Heo et al. | South Korea | 10:00 |
| 4 | AIFILM1028 | Atlant | Animation | Viktoria Yudina | Russian Federation | 10:00 |
| 5 | AIFILM1216 | Remember with My Fingertips | Animation | Hojin Lee | South Korea | 06:04 |
| 6 | AIFILM1171 | When You Run From Your Mom | Animation | Edmond Yang | Norway | 05:00 |
| 7 | AIFILM1008 | Translator | Animation | Zui Ying Picture | China | 04:36 |
| 8 | AIFILM1603 | The Sick Plum tree | Animation | Tahini None | China | 04:13 |
| 9 | AIFILM1604 | No Ego | Animation | Tarannum Pasricha, Chhaya Sharma | India | 05:46 |
| 10 | AIFILM1455 | Green Apples_My Grandma | Animation | Liu Cici | China | 05:13 |
| 11 | AIFILM1160 | The Cure | Animation | Jonathan Seguin | France | 08:37 |
| 12 | AIFILM1157 | A LITTLE MORE WORLD | Animation | tsahi nimtsovich | Israel | 03:03 |
| 13 | AIFILM1458 | THE NEW OCEAN | Kids | Danny Moscona | Israel | 05:45 |
| 14 | AIFILM1468 | Chibi's Story: Between the Forest and the Town | Kids | Toshihiro Motoyoshi | Japan | 08:42 |
| 15 | AIFILM1109 | A Message for the Butterfly | Creative | Zuxin Hou, Mark Wachholz | China, Germany | 08:08 |
| 16 | AIFILM1259 | TOKYO ECHO | Creative | Masaaki Uchino | Japan | 05:00 |
| 17 | AIFILM1273 | THE LAST MIGRATION | Creative | Stéphane Benini | France | 04:35 |
| 18 | AIFILM1111 | Otsukaregasa | Creative | Jonathan Carene | France | 03:00 |
| 19 | AIFILM1472 | 10 Things To Do Before The World Ends | Creative | Candy Ng | Hong Kong | 03:53 |
| 20 | AIFILM1015 | BLOOD DEBT | Creative | Arthur Liew | Malaysia | 08:08 |
| 21 | AIFILM1729 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO NEW WAVE) | Creative | Arata Fukoe | Japan | 05:45 |
| 22 | AIFILM1717 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO Light Drawing) | Creative | Chihei Tanaka | Japan | 05:12 |
| 23 | AIFILM1376 | The Finding | Movie | Vincenzo Lo Re | Italy | 13:50 |
| 24 | AIFILM1700 | TOKYO STORIES『TOKYO 雨/RAIN』 | Movie | Int.Lab | Japan | 10:00 |
| 25 | AIFILM1643 | PUNCHLINE | Movie | Norihiko Mizushima | Japan | 11:01 |
| 26 | AIFILM1377 | INCUBUS | Movie | Julien Prevost | France | 06:00 |
| 27 | AIFILM1040 | Production designer from hell | Movie | Adilkhan Yerzhanov | Kazakhstan | 08:51 |
| 28 | AIFILM1233 | Mai | Movie | Daniel Bjarnason | Iceland | 07:16 |
| 29 | AIFILM1282 | One Last Yesterday | Movie | Shoumitro Choudhury | India | 10:45 |
| 30 | AIFILM1017 | My dear friend | Movie | David None | Australia | 14:51 |
| 31 | AIFILM1026 | Don't Want To Die Alone | Movie | Arthur Liew | Malaysia | 06:00 |
| 32 | AIFILM1048 | ANOTHER DETAIL | Movie | Denis Larzillière | France | 05:43 |
| 33 | AIFILM1055 | A Face Only A Mother Could Love | Movie | Robert Gaudette | Canada | 07:50 |
| 34 | AIFILM1074 | Chère Margaux (2026) | Movie | SOWAYBEYOND_ | United Kingdom | 04:29 |
| 35 | AIFILM1119 | A New Day | Movie | Dariush Rezaei | Germany | 11:00 |
| 36 | AIFILM1143 | CLUMBO-The Accidental Monster | Movie | Ya'lr Gabriel Magall | Germany | 04:00 |
| 37 | AIFILM1145 | Hold Your Breath | Movie | Alexandre Tissier | France | 10:31 |
| 38 | AIFILM1151 | FIGMENT | Movie | David None | Australia | 14:00 |
| 39 | AIFILM1177 | Far away home | Movie | SIPING SONG | China | 07:01 |
| 40 | AIFILM1223 | Men And Wolves | Movie | Timur Rakhimov, Ikrom Mullyadjanov | Uzbekistan | 09:11 |
| 41 | AIFILM1252 | Keep Still | Movie | Yu Feng | China | 03:59 |
| 42 | AIFILM1286 | A Morning Like Any Other | Movie | Dan Xie | China | 08:14 |
| 43 | AIFILM1292 | Agbogbloshie | Movie | Marcos Junior | Brazil | 03:33 |
| 44 | AIFILM1293 | Little Sun | Movie | Liz Chen | United States | 08:57 |
| 45 | AIFILM1298 | Merry Xmas, AI Love You. | Movie | Koichi Miwa | Japan | 07:55 |
| 46 | AIFILM1321 | That Damn Road | Movie | Dario Malini | Italy | 09:28 |
| 47 | AIFILM1323 | THE WEIGHT | Movie | Rafal Kijas | Poland | 06:00 |
| 48 | AIFILM1332 | Still Standing | Movie | Jihong Yum | South Korea | 04:26 |
| 49 | AIFILM1356 | The Well | Movie | RyeongMi JO | South Korea | 10:20 |
| 50 | AIFILM1384 | Singularity | Movie | Rafal Rams | Switzerland | 03:47 |
| 51 | AIFILM1424 | REFRAME | Movie | Hiroki Shioya | Japan | 05:24 |
| 52 | AIFILM1471 | Eidolon | Movie | Laurent Hayot | Belgium | 07:38 |
| 53 | AIFILM1481 | One more note.... | Movie | Anna Makoseeva | Russian Federation | 04:38 |
| 54 | AIFILM1720 | THE REMNANT | Movie | Jimmy Ming Shum | Hong Kong, Japan | 05:49 |
| 55 | AIFILM1060 | FJARA | Movie | Rafal Kijas | Poland | 05:22 |
| 56 | AIFILM1706 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO HEAVEN) | Movie | Masaaki Uchino, Koji Yamada | Japan | 05:00 |
| 57 | AIFILM1713 | TOKYO STORIES (HEAT ISLAND TOKYO) | Movie | Satoshi Kuroda | Japan | 11:35 |
| 58 | AIFILM1714 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO BASTARDS) | Movie | Jonah Kishiya | Japan | 10:00 |
| 59 | AIFILM1722 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO STRANGE) | Movie | Jun Tamukai | Japan | 07:36 |
| 60 | AIFILM1728 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO IMITATION) | Movie | Kentaro Osawa | Japan | 11:10 |
| 61 | AIFILM1711 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO CLEANING ROBOT) | Movie | Zenma | Japan | 03:29 |
| 62 | AIFILM1721 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO♡BUDDY) | Kids | Miwako Nishikawa | Japan | 08:58 |
| 63 | AIFILM1727 | TOKYO STORIES (TOKYO MOUSE) | Kids | Kapoot | Japan | 04:58 |
| 64 | AIFILM1339 | A Little Japanese Folktale | Movie | Kyo Hibino | Japan | 02:50 |
| 65 | AIFILM1378 | Return to the Womb (Laundromat) | Music/Score | Ayano Kotakari | Japan | 04:32 |
| 66 | AIFILM1360 | Laundromat | Music/Score | Masayoshi Kurihara | Japan | 04:32 |
| 67 | AIFILM1217 | Laundromat (380 - 780) | Music/Score | Ana Matyskina | Germany | 04:59 |
| 68 | AIFILM1281 | AIFJ2026 Theme B – Original Score | Music/Score | 821R | Japan | 02:50 |
Official Partner Sponsored Special Award Nominees
Nominated from top creators selected during the CapCut AI Creator Contest 2026, celebrating groundbreaking generative workflows and outstanding visual aesthetics.
Honoring creative, emotive, and responsible integration of voice AI in cinema, evaluating acting nuance, vocal consistency, and multilingual sonic artistry.
Director:
Country:
Runtime: