2026 'TUFS Cinema' Lineup Announced: 'Traveling the World's Diversity through Film' 12 Screenings in Total
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies announced its 2026 TUFS Cinema schedule. Running from June 2026 to January 2027, it features 12 international film screenings accompanied by academic commentary.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 24, 2026 at 00:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 15:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 16:23 (51 min after Collected)
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Fuchu City, Tokyo, President: Nobuo Haruna) has announced the 2026 annual schedule for "TUFS Cinema," a screening project that deepens understanding of diverse languages, cultures, and societies through films from around the world.
This project, which returns the academic knowledge boasted by our university to society, is more than just a place to watch movies. With a perspective unique to our university, a hub for multilingual and multicultural research, we decipher the historical background and social structures hidden behind the visuals, offering audiences a cultural journey that invites them to the "depths of the world."
1. Purpose of Holding TUFS Cinema
"TUFS Cinema" is a social contribution project based on the mission of our university, aiming to learn about the issues facing modern society and the unique cultures breathing in each region through films from around the world.
For the 2026 academic year, a total of 12 screenings are planned from June 2026 to January 2027. Including rare works that rarely get commercial theatrical releases, we have structured a screening lineup with multi-layered perspectives that can only be realized because we are a "plaza of knowledge" like a university. Through film, we create opportunities to touch the lives and values of people in distant lands, fostering empathy and dialogue.
Post-screening commentary session
2. Features and Appeal of TUFS Cinema
As a place to broadly open university research results to the public, this project possesses the following unique qualities:
- Academic guidance by experts:
University faculty and experts deeply knowledgeable about the languages, regional affairs, and historical backgrounds will provide commentary before and after the screenings. By looking through the eyes of an expert, the understanding of the work becomes richer and deeper.
- The experience of hearing "living voices":
Covering the entire world again in 2026, including Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa, North America, and the Pacific region. Respecting the resonance and subtle nuances of local languages, we convey the shape of each culture.
- Respect and inheritance of visual culture:
We carefully select works that emit compelling messages that might fall through the cracks of commercial frameworks. We nurture a culture that appreciates diverse visual expressions.
3. 2026 Screening Lineup List (Annual Schedule)
Date | Title | Country of Production | Main Setting
2026/6/13 (Sat) | Blue Sea, Red Blood: Survival Strategies of Oceania | Japan | Papua New Guinea
2026/6/24 (Wed) | Favela é Moda | Brazil | Brazil
2026/7/4 (Sat) | The Poet of Abandoned Things | Iran | Iran
2026/7/10 (Fri) | Inshallah a Boy | Jordan, France, etc. | Jordan
2026/7/18 (Sat) | Ninavau - Light | Malaysia | Malaysia
2026/7/19 (Sun) | Searching for Amani / Staple Food, Collapse Crisis. | US, Kenya / Japan | Kenya / Japan
2026/9/12 (Sat) | The Cord of Life | China | Inner Mongolia, China
2026/10/2 (Fri) | People of the Underground | Bolivia | Bolivia
2026/11/28 (Sat) | Raised in Water / Encounters with Silence | Philippines | Philippines
2026/12/5 (Sat) | The Orange Story / Resettlement: Chicago Story / Enough: Reckoning with Redress (Three short films on Japanese American experiences) | USA | USA
2026/12/9 (Wed) or 2027/1/20 (Wed) | Mami Wata | Nigeria, UK, France | Nigeria
2027/1/31 (Sun) | (In Preparation) | (In Preparation) | Pakistan
4. Approaches to Diverse Cultures and Social Issues
The 2026 program includes many works from regions with limited introduction in Japan, such as Brazil, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Bolivia, and Nigeria. These works vividly depict compelling themes faced by the modern world.
For example, "Blue Sea, Red Blood" questions the cycle of life and community regeneration through traditional hunting and rituals in the Pacific Islands; "Favela é Moda" affirms the identity of youth resisting discrimination through fashion in the slums of Rio; "People of the Underground" tracks violence against and the rebirth of indigenous people under a military coup in Bolivia. Furthermore, works from the Philippines confronting environmental changes in Manila Bay and the "silence" of solitary deaths in Japan, or those depicting the conflict between tradition and reform centered around water god legends...
This project, which returns the academic knowledge boasted by our university to society, is more than just a place to watch movies. With a perspective unique to our university, a hub for multilingual and multicultural research, we decipher the historical background and social structures hidden behind the visuals, offering audiences a cultural journey that invites them to the "depths of the world."
1. Purpose of Holding TUFS Cinema
"TUFS Cinema" is a social contribution project based on the mission of our university, aiming to learn about the issues facing modern society and the unique cultures breathing in each region through films from around the world.
For the 2026 academic year, a total of 12 screenings are planned from June 2026 to January 2027. Including rare works that rarely get commercial theatrical releases, we have structured a screening lineup with multi-layered perspectives that can only be realized because we are a "plaza of knowledge" like a university. Through film, we create opportunities to touch the lives and values of people in distant lands, fostering empathy and dialogue.
Post-screening commentary session
2. Features and Appeal of TUFS Cinema
As a place to broadly open university research results to the public, this project possesses the following unique qualities:
- Academic guidance by experts:
University faculty and experts deeply knowledgeable about the languages, regional affairs, and historical backgrounds will provide commentary before and after the screenings. By looking through the eyes of an expert, the understanding of the work becomes richer and deeper.
- The experience of hearing "living voices":
Covering the entire world again in 2026, including Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa, North America, and the Pacific region. Respecting the resonance and subtle nuances of local languages, we convey the shape of each culture.
- Respect and inheritance of visual culture:
We carefully select works that emit compelling messages that might fall through the cracks of commercial frameworks. We nurture a culture that appreciates diverse visual expressions.
3. 2026 Screening Lineup List (Annual Schedule)
Date | Title | Country of Production | Main Setting
2026/6/13 (Sat) | Blue Sea, Red Blood: Survival Strategies of Oceania | Japan | Papua New Guinea
2026/6/24 (Wed) | Favela é Moda | Brazil | Brazil
2026/7/4 (Sat) | The Poet of Abandoned Things | Iran | Iran
2026/7/10 (Fri) | Inshallah a Boy | Jordan, France, etc. | Jordan
2026/7/18 (Sat) | Ninavau - Light | Malaysia | Malaysia
2026/7/19 (Sun) | Searching for Amani / Staple Food, Collapse Crisis. | US, Kenya / Japan | Kenya / Japan
2026/9/12 (Sat) | The Cord of Life | China | Inner Mongolia, China
2026/10/2 (Fri) | People of the Underground | Bolivia | Bolivia
2026/11/28 (Sat) | Raised in Water / Encounters with Silence | Philippines | Philippines
2026/12/5 (Sat) | The Orange Story / Resettlement: Chicago Story / Enough: Reckoning with Redress (Three short films on Japanese American experiences) | USA | USA
2026/12/9 (Wed) or 2027/1/20 (Wed) | Mami Wata | Nigeria, UK, France | Nigeria
2027/1/31 (Sun) | (In Preparation) | (In Preparation) | Pakistan
4. Approaches to Diverse Cultures and Social Issues
The 2026 program includes many works from regions with limited introduction in Japan, such as Brazil, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Bolivia, and Nigeria. These works vividly depict compelling themes faced by the modern world.
For example, "Blue Sea, Red Blood" questions the cycle of life and community regeneration through traditional hunting and rituals in the Pacific Islands; "Favela é Moda" affirms the identity of youth resisting discrimination through fashion in the slums of Rio; "People of the Underground" tracks violence against and the rebirth of indigenous people under a military coup in Bolivia. Furthermore, works from the Philippines confronting environmental changes in Manila Bay and the "silence" of solitary deaths in Japan, or those depicting the conflict between tradition and reform centered around water god legends...