THE JAPANESE Film Festival (JFF) 2025 will kick off its annual event featuring 12 highly anticipated movies of blockbusters, romantic comedies, and anime adventures at SM Cinemas from Feb 21 to Mar 2.
In its return to SM City Davao, this year’s lineup features the Academy award-winning “Godzilla Minus One,” a sci-fi action movie that premiered in 2023 and will be screened in the festival’s launch on Feb 21, 7 p.m. at Cinema 3 exclusive for invitations.
The list also includes the critically acclaimed film “DitO,” a Japanese-Philippines co-production film that debuted in 2024 and featured a supporting cast of Filipino actors Mon Confiado, Lou Veloso, Lesley Lina, Buboy Villar, and Manny Pacquiao.
JFF coordinator Angely Chi shared that last year’s Japanese Film Festival was a success with most cinemas experiencing full seats and the Philippines ranking as the country with the highest attendance in the global Japanese Film Festival.
Chi added that last year’s film festival received positive feedback from the audiences where children, senior citizens, and families were eager to line up and see the movies.
“Last year, they really enjoyed the lineup so we also hope to achieve this year,” Chi said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Feb 17.
The film festival will have free admission with walk-ins encouraged. This year’s festival has an e-ticketing system, Ticket2Me (https://ticket2me.net/JFF), for those who want to book tickets in advance since Cinema 3 can occupy 326 seats.
The JFF 2025 launched on Jan 30 at the Shangri-La Red Carpet Cinema in Manila. The festival will visit five cities in the Philippines, Manila, Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu, and Davao with their own respective schedules.
