The 18th Kyoto Historica International Film Festival

Before you go

The Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival screens one kind of film: historical film.

The festival describes itself as Japan's only film festival rooted in history. Kyoto holds more than 1,200 years of accumulated history, and the jidaigeki period drama and the historical drama grew out of that cultural inheritance; the festival's stated keywords are “history × global × cross-media.” Its executive committee shows where it comes from: Kyoto Prefecture, the Museum of Kyoto, the Toei and Shochiku studios in Kyoto, Ritsumeikan University and other bodies sit on the committee, chaired by the head of Toei's Kyoto studio, and the screenings take place at the Museum of Kyoto.

This year is the 18th edition, under the theme “Worlds.” The programme includes an alternate version of a much-discussed recent hit: a black-and-white silent edition of A Samurai in Time. The festival's own preview also points to kabuki films by Lee Sang-il, Kenji Mizoguchi and Seijun Suzuki, an eccentric opera film by Manoel de Oliveira, and works by two Kurosawas from different eras. The festival is an official event of KYOTO CMEX 2026, the city's cross-media event series. The screenings run along several lines — current Japanese period dramas alongside historical masterpieces, the latest historical films from overseas and older works by major directors, and special screenings with partner institutions abroad. Around the screenings are post-screening guest talks, conference events and online programmes; the festival itself lists four things audiences do here: watch period drama, watch historical films from around the world, learn from the talks, and back new talent.

That last item is the festival's other half. Running alongside the screenings are the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab, where creators from around the world learn at working studios, the Kyoto Film Pitching contest for period-drama projects, and off-screen programmes titled HISTORICA X, Ozashiki and Night Historica. The festival's stated vision is to connect, through historical film, to the future.