Kinotayo - Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film

Kinotayo: A Window onto Contemporary Japan Through Cinema

Created in 2007, the Kinotayo festival — whose name means Golden Sun in Japanese — was born from the desire to introduce contemporary Japanese cinema in all its diversity to the French public. Far from clichés about Japanese cinema, Kinotayo annually presents recent works that reflect the questions, hopes, and contradictions of today's Japanese society.

An Official Competition and Audience Award

The heart of the festival is its official competition, which brings together seven recent Japanese films vying for the Golden Sun, the grand prize awarded by audience vote. This original format, which places spectators at the center of the selection process, makes Kinotayo a truly participatory festival. A Grand Prize and a Jury Prize complete the awards, while a Student Jury Prize involves new generations of cinephiles in the appreciation of Japanese cinema.

Films Out of Competition and French Premieres

Beyond the competition, Kinotayo annually offers about ten films out of competition, including numerous French premieres of films acclaimed in Japan and at international festivals. These screenings allow the public to discover major works before their potential theatrical release in France.

Two Iconic Venues in Paris

The Parisian screenings take place in two prestigious venues: the Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris (MCJP), a reference institution for Japanese culture in France, and the Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet, which offers an exceptional setting for discovering Japanese cinema. These two locations, situated in the 15th and 16th arrondissements, give the festival a strong cultural anchor.

A Traveling Festival Across France

After its two-week run in Paris, Kinotayo continues its tour in about twenty partner cinemas across France, from December to June. This traveling dimension allows contemporary Japanese cinema to be distributed far beyond the capital, in medium-sized towns and art-house cinemas that do not usually program this type of film. The festival has thus become an essential player in cultural decentralization for Asian cinema.