Tokyo is ready to close the gap between great ideas and greenlit films. Tiffcom 2026 will host the seventh Tokyo Gap-Financing Market (TGFM) at Tokyo Port City Takeshiba Port Studio, bringing 24 feature film projects to the table for funding, development and international partnerships.
TGFM provides feature film projects in the funding stage with opportunities for one-on-one meetings with industry experts to support project development and budget fulfilment. Participating projects must have secured at least 60 per cent of their total budget and include an Asian element. The market is highly regarded by meeting partners, who can make concrete assessments of projects with a high possibility of completion.
This year’s selection spans 24 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, South America and North America, including eight projects from Japan. Japanese production partners are involved in 12 of the selected projects, with eight originating from Japan.
The first-ever open pitch event will be held on the afternoon of 28 October with the cooperation of Imagica Group. Ten of the 24 selected projects, including five from the newly partnered Frontières showcase, will take the stage to pitch their projects.
The new partnership with Frontières, the international genre film co-production market organised by Canada’s Fantasia International Film Festival, has also added fresh genre firepower to this year’s selection.
Frontières deputy director Tania Morissette said, “Frontières is thrilled to partner with TGFM at Tiffcom to present our first showcase in Asia. This partnership is a fantastic opportunity to connect our genre filmmaking communities, open new doors for emerging projects, and build meaningful bridges between our markets.”
The collaboration has brought together genre projects from Thailand, Nepal and Brazil, spanning indigenous horror to near-future psychological thrillers.
The horror line-up includes a body horror film by Gabriela Amaral Almeida, whose previous work was selected for the Tokyo International Film Festival Competition. Another project draws on a Kyrgyz legend and is produced by new Indonesian filmmaker Kevin Rahardjo and KawanKawan Media, the production company behind a string of notable titles.
The selection also features a thriller from acclaimed Singaporean director Boo Junfeng and Seafic founder and producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon. Vietnamese director Diep Nguyen Hoang, who joined last year’s TGFM with 1982, an official selection at the Busan International Film Festival, returns for a second consecutive year.
Animation is also punching above its weight, with five projects in the selection. They include an omnibus horror from the production team behind The Violinist, winner of the top prize at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival; Back to Tomioka, based on a French graphic novel dealing with the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident; and a Japanese project by Ayumi Moriyama, OLM’s promising animator, who worked as an animator and key animator on the TV animation Pokémon before becoming a director.
The line-up also features a project by P.I.C.S., whose work has earned praise at film festivals and events in Japan and internationally. The TGFM partnership with Cinecittà, part of the Italian Ministry of Culture’s Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual Media, enters its third year in 2026. The collaboration brings three projects, including Italian-Japanese international co-productions.
Among them is a project featuring director Takuya Uchiyama, whose Numb made an impression in this year’s Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival. Japan’s selection also includes projects by directors Yusaku Matsumoto, known for Winny, Hideo Yamamoto, known for After the Fever, and Takafumi Sakabe.
Beyond the pitches and meetings, TGFM is planning related events throughout the market, with details to be announced through its official website, social media channels and newsletters as they are confirmed.
The wider Tiffcom 2026 programme will bring together content holders focused on film, television and animation, national pavilions, film commissions and solution vendors. The 2025 edition recorded more than 7,700 business meetings, highlighting the market’s role beyond the buying and selling of completed titles.
Tiffcom also offers opportunities for IP licensing, remake rights and book adaptations, alongside meetings focused on co-productions, financing, investment, localisation, location incentives and technology solutions.
