Dates
Friday, March 27, 2026 – Sunday, March 29, 2026
*The event has been moved up by one day and will now run for three days.
Venue
Shikaoi Town Hall (2 Higashimachi, Shikaoi-cho, Katō-gun, Hokkaido)
Organizer
Hokkaido International Film Festival Executive Committee
Supported by
Hokkaido, Hokkaido Board of Education, Hokkaido Regional Transport Bureau, Shikaoi Town, Shikaoi Town Board of Education, Shikaoi Town Tourism Association, Shikaoi Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shikaoi Town Agricultural Cooperative, Shikaoi Town Cultural Federation, Shikaoi Town Civic Hall Project Executive Committee, Tokachi Tourism Federation, Obihiro Tourism and Convention Association, Obihiro City, Obihiro City Board of Education, Hokkaido Entertainment and Public Health Trade Association, Hokkaido Shimbun Press, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting, Tokachi Mainichi Shimbun, JAGA, Obihiro Citizens’ Radio FM WING
In cooperation with
Shibuya Production, Furebari, Cinema Iris, Warabi, Cinema Taiyo Obihiro
Event Management
Varione, Warabi
The Feature Film Competition, featuring six films selected from around the world, will award the Grand Prize (Golden Owl Award) and a Special Prize as determined by the jury, as well as the Audience Award, decided by your votes! In addition, enjoy a lineup of films you can only see here—including special screenings, the HIFF Selection, animated shorts, and symposiums—alongside a diverse array of guests.
*Please note that guest appearances are subject to change or cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances.
Friday, March 27: Pre-festival
White Hall
18:30 Special Screening
Toward Tomorrow: War Is a Crime
Japan｜100 min｜Yoshiyuki Fuji
In 2015, 98-year-old former rakugo performer Kanayamatei Garaku recalls a Buddhist monk who once changed his life after watching news of protests against Japan’s security laws. In the 1930s, the monk encouraged a boy’s dream of becoming a storyteller, then later denounced war as a crime̶an act that led to persecution. Through memory and storytelling, the film quietly reflects on war, peace, and the enduring power of words.
Guest: Dir. Yoshiyuki Fuji
Musical Hall
18:30 HIFF Selection YUBARI
Midnight Tea Party
Japan｜24 min｜Chisa Hasegawa
Tough and strong, Takeshi is his father’s pride and joy. Those around him praise him as“ a real man’s man.” Yet Takeshi has a secret he can’t tell anyone
Guest:DirectorChisa Hasegawa
RIRIKA OF THE STAR
Japan｜28 min｜Tokitoshi Shiota
R15+ ※15歳未満はご覧いただけません。
映画評論家・塩田時敏の初監督作品。本作は、ストリッパーになることを夢見る高校生の娘と、その父親との葛藤と和解を、無声映画という形式で描いた短編である。18歳の娘・萌は、看護師を目指していると思われていたが、ある日突然「ストリッパーになりたい」と父・泰造に告げる。
Guest:Director Tokitoshi Shiota
Saturday, March 28
White Hall
9:30 Opening Event [Free Admission]
The Tale of Princess White Snake, and The Princess White Snake Dance
A tale passed down in Shikaoi Town and a dance inspired by that story. We invite you to enjoy a reading of “The Tale of the White Snake Princess” accompanied by paper-cut art, as well as a video presentation of the graceful and solemn “White Snake Princess Dance.”
11:00 Animation Program A
Silili and Tree
Hong Kong | 15 min | Eric Lee
Silili, an elf born from a mother tree, sets out in search of her ideal form. Unaware, her journey wounds a single tree, yet preserves the island’s plant life.
DUNDUN
China | 15 min | BIN WANG
In a closing toy store, two purple dolls struggle to be chosen. Their wish goes unfulfilled, and they are thrown away.
CELESTE
Brazil | 30 min | FERNANDO M. MACEDO
Celeste is a girl gifted with seeing the world through joy and hope. Imprisoned in a tower, she reveals that her dragon guardian is also captive, and they journey together.
13:00 Special Screening
Sozoku
Japan | 97 min | Mamiya Fujimura
A humorous drama depicting the inheritance disputes that erupt within a once-close family following the death of their mother.
15:30 Special Screening
Sketches of Kaitan City
Japan｜158 min｜Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri adapts a series of short stories by the overlooked writer Yasushi Sato. The film is set in Kaitan City̶a fictional town inspired by on-location shooting in Hakodate, Sato’s hometown. Against the backdrop of Hakodate’s port city landscapes, the film interweaves the lives of laid-off shipyard siblings, an elderly woman resisting eviction, a planetarium worker wounded by betrayal, a young businessman facing crises, and a tram driver estranged from his son. With restraint and compassion, the film captures the quiet melancholy and fragile hope of a provincial city.
Guest:Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
Musical Hall
11:00 Feature Film Competition
How To Build A Secret Base
Japan｜109 min｜Tomoya Itabashi
At 50, Yamauchi returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his classmate Sato. Reuniting with Mitarai, Kudo, and Toyonaga, long-forgotten memories begin to quietly stir. One day, Kudo reveals a notebook containing their childhood dream: a “secret construction project.” That summer, past the midpoint of their lives, they rediscover the spirit of their youth and start building a“ secret base.”
14:15 Feature Film Competition
Die Before You Die
Unaited Kingdom｜104 min｜Dan Pringle
Obsessed with going viral, a hot-headed influencer finds himself buried six feet underground when an internet challenge turns deadly. Die Before You Die｠is equal parts claustrophobic thrill-ride and a moving story of pers onal transformation. Adi’s existential journey from superficial celebrity to humbled father provokes the question, can we ever be truly in control of our fears and desires?
Guest: Lead Actor and Writer Ziad Abaza
16:30 Symposium [Free Admission]
The Future Reflected in Tokachi: “Regional Stories” and Film Culture Created by the Land, Food, and People
A food culture nurtured by vast lands, landscapes shaped by the four seasons, and the daily lives of people rooted in this land—Tokachi possesses a rich tapestry of stories that the region itself seems to tell. In this symposium, we will explore how to express the unique charm of Tokachi through the medium of film and how to pass on these regional values to future generations. Agriculture, tourism, culture, daily life. We will reexamine the “regional stories” born from Tokachi’s diverse facets through the lens of film culture. Film has the power to reflect the memories of the land, illuminate people’s lives, and convey the unique stories of a region to the world. Together, we will begin to envision the future that Tokachi reflects.
Hiroshi Yamagishi
Chairman, Shikotsu Town Tourism Association
Hiroki Kibata
Representative Director and Chairman, JA Shikaoi
Hidenori Uematsu
Executive Director, Tokachi Tourism Federation
Yuki Hotta
Representative Director, Roadside Station Pia 21 Shihoro (at LOCAL Co., Ltd.)
Yoshiyuki Fuji
Film Director, Representative Director of Warabi Co., Ltd.
18:15 Feature Film Competition
Yokai
Japan｜75 min｜Naotoshi Kitada
A pale, expressionless girl transfers into Kokoroha’s sixth-grade class. While everyone else keeps their distance, Kokoroha alone becomes curious and begins talking with her. One day, the two venture to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town, but the girl falls to her death. The next day at school, everyone insists,“ There was no such transfer student.” Was she real, or just a figment of Kokoroha’s imagination? The truth remains unknown.
Sunrday, March 29
White Hall
10:00 Animation Program B
Children of the Bird
Hungary | 12 min | Julia Tudisco
A wild girl who has the power to create things,and a shy boy who has the power to destroy them. The two are innocent, god-like children with mysterious abilities. Winner of the Nipone Award (Audience Award) at the short film competition held in Abashiri City in February.
Tiny Little Journey
South Korea | 24 min | Jinwoo Lee
An ant leaves the safety of his nest in search of paradise, only to face a harsh winter storm. Does the paradise he dreamed of truly exist?
In Half
Spain | 24 min | Jorge Morais Valle
Guided by a child’s imagination, a fearful man enters a magical other world. Where past and future collide, can he overcome his fear?
11:30 Special Screening
The Whispering River
Japan｜108 min｜Kazufumi Oki
Six months after the 2020 Kumamoto floods, Takayuki returns home for his mother’s funeral after 22 years away. Living in temporary housing, his son Fuminori refuses to accept the father who once abandoned him. As damaged homes, broken relationships, and shattered livelihoods surface, the people who have long lived alongside the river begin to reclaim what they lost. A quiet ensemble drama about loss, resilience, and finding a place to belong after disaster.
Guests: Lead Actor Takeo Nakahara, Director Kazufumi Oki, Producer Junko Yamamoto
14:00 Special Screening
The Chatty Photo Studio
Japan｜120 min｜Yoshiyuki Fuji
Set in Shikaoi Town in northern Tokachi, Hokkaido, this human drama unfolds in a century-old photo studio. After the death of its owner, Yuji Matsubara̶a photographer who has lost both his sight and purpose̶ arrives in town. Surrounded by vast nature, he meets Mai, a troubled girl with nowhere to go, and becomes her foster parent. As lingering spirits of the past quietly appear, frozen time begins to move again.
Guests: Lead Actor Takeo Nakahara, Director Yoshiyuki Fuji
17:00 Special Screening
The Bride Who Rides A Sleigh
Japan｜28 min｜Yoshiro Osaka
In 1956, in a rural farming village of Tokachi, Hokkaido, life revolves around hard labor shared with horses. Kazuko, the eldest daughter of the Toyama family, finds herself drawn to Yutaka, a young man from the same village. During a local festival, their feelings quietly connect. As winter comes to an end, Kazuko, dressed as a bride, rides a horse-drawn sled toward Yutaka, watched by her family. Set a decade after the war, the film portrays a rural society gradually loosening its rigid traditions, capturing a moment of change, love, and tradition in northern Japan.
Lákura
Japan ｜20 min｜Yoshiyuki Fuji
Lákura, a shop housed in a century-old warehouse, is facing closure as demolition approaches. As the owner prepares to open the shop as usual, a young woman appears.
Guest: Director Yoshiyuki Fuji
18:30 Closing Ceremony & Awards Ceremony [Free Admission]
Musical Hall
10:00 Feature Film Competition
The Aegean
Australia｜103 min｜Jacob Richardson
In a world that is slowly forgetting him, Hector, a widowed fisherman, lives under the weight of deep solitude. His life begins to change when he meets Theodore, a troubled teenager searching for someone to save him. Drawn together by their shared struggles, the two set out on a journey across the Aegean Sea, where they rediscover purpose and a reason to go on.
12:30 Feature Film Competition
The Heart cleaner
Sounth Korea｜62 mn｜Kyungrok KIM
Hyelim and Jia, the inventors who created the “The Heart Cleaner,” a machine that enters the heart and cleanses hysteria and emotions, find themselves in a situation where they need to repay the debt incurred from their invention. To solve their urgent financial problem, they decide to clean Hyelim’s ex-boyfriend’s heart in order to earn money. However, they encounter a different form of hysteria that exists within his heart, leading them to a challenging struggle. While cleaning hearts, Hyelim and Jia gradually discover the understanding and connections that transform their initial focus on “money over people” to “people over money.”
Guest:Director Kyungrok KIM
HIFF Selection YUBARI
Go! Go! Yubari
Sounth Korea｜30 min｜Kyungrok KIM
After his debut film fails to be selected for any festival, Gi-tae cuts off contact with everyone involved in its production. One year later, he unexpectedly receives an invitation to the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, forcing a reunion with his former cast and crew。
Guest:Director Kyungrok KIM
14:30 Feature Film Competition
Your Soul in Peace
Italy｜83 min｜Ciro Formisano
Dora is a 25-year-old woman struggling to survive through a physically demanding job delivering groceries. With an unstable mother and twin brothers placed in foster care, she is determined to reunite her family. To save money, Dora becomes involved in illegal dealings arranged by Yuri, a dangerous man from her neighborhood. Her life begins to change when she meets Andrea, a young medical resident who offers her a glimpse of hope.
Guest: Lead Actor Livia Antonelli
Admission Fees (Tax Included)
*Free for junior high school students and younger
Same-day ticket
- 2-Day Pass (28th & 29th) : 4,000 yen
- 1-Day Pass (27th) : 1,000 yen
- 1-Day Pass (28th or 29th) : 2,000 yen
- Single Screening (1 Program) : 1,000 yen
Advance Tickets
- 2-DAY PASS (28th & 29th) with clear file: 4,000 yen
- 1-DAY PASS (28th or 29th): 2,000 yen
Sales Locations
Shikaoi Town Hall, Shikaoi Town Hall Uramaku Branch, Shikaoi Town Chamber of Commerce, CAFE Oshaberi na Shashinkan, Torisei Shikaoi Store, Usui Tenko-do, Ide Yakubo, Shimizu Cultural Center, Shintoku Community Center, Makubetsu Centennial Memorial Hall, Otofuke Cultural Center, Memuro Central Community Center, Obihiro Cultural Hall (Ticket Live), Mint Cafe
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