Kaminari Japan Film Festival is an international independent film festival based in Tokyo, Japan.
celebrating bold, low-budget, and experimental films from filmmakers around the world.

Creativity matters more than budget.
We welcome smartphone-shot films, micro-budget works, and idea-driven projects that challenge conventions.
The independent spirit and management team remain the same.

Kaminari JFF is a sister festival of the Japan Indies Film Festival (JIFF)
and maintains a strong connection with the Raindance Film Festival in London.

🎬 Kaminari Japan Film Festival 2026

📅 November 25 (Wed) & 26 (Thu), 2026
📍 Theater Guild Daikanyama, Tokyo, Japan

✨ Expanded to a two-day screening and awards event,
creating more opportunities for films to be screened and voices to be heard.

“A true celebration of budget-constraint creativity.”
— Elliot Grove, Founder of Raindance Film Festival

🔥 This festival is for you if…

You have a strong idea, but a limited budget

You make experimental or genre-defying work

You are a first-time filmmaker

You want a second chance to challenge the screen

You create films using smartphones or home video

At Kaminari JFF, great ideas can always take the place of big money.
We look forward to discovering bold, honest, and fearless films
on the big screen in Daikanyama.

🏆 Award Winners & Archives

Selected award-winning films from recent editions are listed below.
Past winners and archives from earlier editions are available on our official blog.

👉 Official Blog (Past Winners & Archives):
https://kaminari-japan-film-fes.blogspot.com/

Here is the list of winners for the 2025 Kaminari Japan Film Festival:
⭐️Best Feature Documentary　‘Sharing Aloha’-Blair Treu
⭐️Best Music Video　　‘Pieces of Central Park’-Peter Sluszka
⭐️Best Anything Goes　‘Josefine’-Antonia Bain
*Best Mobile Moments： Not awarded
*Best Eraserhead ： Not awarded
⭐️Best Narrative Short　‘Alien Guy Tim’　-Scott Simerly Jr.
*Best Short Documentary: Not awarded
⭐️Cinematic Impact Award　‘Oxplant’-chavo
⭐️Jury Special Award　‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’ - Kenneth R. Frank
🏆Grand Prize　―Best Narrative Feature　【MADO】-MAO

カミナリ・ジャパン・フィルム・フェスティバルは、予算よりもアイデアを重視する、自由で実験的な国際映画祭です。

低予算作品、スマホ撮影作品、既存のジャンルに収まらない挑戦的な作品を歓迎しています。
初監督の作品、再チャレンジ作品、Anything Goes な実験作まで、
新しい表現と声を大切にする映画祭です。

本映画祭は2020年に
「The Good, the Bad, and the Cheapo Film Festival」としてスタートしました。
その後も運営体制は変わらず、現在は
カミナリ・ジャパン・フィルム・フェスティバルとして開催を続けています。
JIFF（ジャパン・インディーズ・フィルム・フェスティバル）の姉妹映画祭であり、
ロンドンのレインダンス映画祭とも強いつながりを持っています。

🎬 カミナリ・ジャパン・フィルム・フェスティバル 2026
📅 2026年11月25日（水）・26日（木）
📍 シアターギルド代官山（東京）
✨ 2日間開催となり、上映枠・受賞機会を拡大しました。

「制約のある予算だからこそ生まれる創造性を祝福する、本物の映画祭」
― エリオット・グローブ（レインダンス映画祭 創設者）

🏆 過去の受賞・選出作品は、公式ブログにてアーカイブしています。

👉 公式ブログ（過去受賞・記録）：
https://kaminari-japan-film-fes.blogspot.com/

🔥 こんな方に向けた映画祭です

低予算・ノーバジェットで映画を作っている
実験的・ジャンルレスな作品を発表したい
初めて映画を完成させた
もう一度チャレンジしたい
スマホやホームビデオで作った作品を応募したい
カミナリ映画祭は、
**「お金よりも、発想と情熱」**を信じる制作者のための映画祭です。
代官山のスクリーンで、あなたの作品と出会えることを楽しみにしています。

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Reserve your screening and award ceremony tickets
上映授賞式入場券予約・プログラム・限定Tシャツのオーダーはこちらから
https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/QGM36FBAQUFB2

Awards & Prizes

Best Feature

Best Documentary Feature

Best Short

Best Documentary Short

Eraserhead Award (Best Horror Movie)

Anything Goes Award

Best Mobile Moments Award

Best Music Video

Debut Feature Award

Rules & Terms

Rules and Terms (Read Carefully)

Nominated films must be produced in either English or Japanese. Japanese-language films must include English subtitles, and English or other foreign-language films must include either English or Japanese subtitles.
If selected for screening, all non-Japanese-language films must include Japanese subtitles (excluding music videos).

All submissions must include a press pack containing the following:

A one-paragraph synopsis

A short biography of the director and producer with a photo

A full cast list and high-resolution photos for promotional use

Each film must select one primary category.

Multiple submissions from a single filmmaker are allowed. One film can be submitted to multiple categories.

All submissions must be made via FilmFreeway. Please do not send discs or downloadable files.

By submitting, the filmmaker agrees that the Kaminari Japan Film Festival has the right to use stills or promotional photos from the film for promotional purposes.

Films must have been completed after January 2021.

All films must be in NTSC format.

Films that are selected or nominated may receive notification prior to the official deadline or public announcement date.

We cannot respond to inquiries about the judging process or interim results.

Selected films for screening must be submitted as an MP4 or MOV file with burned-in Japanese subtitles, in 1080p stereo format, and delivered via a large file transfer service (such as Dropbox or WeTransfer) no later than two weeks before the festival to:
kaminarijapanfilmfes@gmail.com

Films that have been commercially released in theaters or broadcast on television in Japan, or have won a Grand Prize at any Japanese film festival, are not eligible.

Award winners may receive distribution offers in Japan, including in-flight entertainment, theatrical screenings, or via Asia's largest satellite TV networks. We will support such opportunities.

Award winners are eligible for a fee waiver for submission to the Japan Indies Film Festival, if they wish.

No screening fees will be paid.

All music used must be properly licensed.

Submission fees are non-refundable under any circumstances.

Even if a project is selected by the committee, screening is not guaranteed. Various factors may prevent screening, though we do our best to avoid such issues.

These rules are subject to change depending on social circumstances (e.g., COVID-19).
12 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Gemma Dixon

    Absolutely brilliant to be part of this festival, honoured not only to be selected to be part of it but that we won the 'Anything Goes Category' They were great with communication especially as we couldn't be there to collect the award and when we were able to get someone to be there to collect the award they did so with so much ease. So sad not to have been there but great to have had all the social media posts to watch online and repost. Thanks again Kaminari Japanese Film Festival!!

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Scott Simerly

    Well-organized festival with a responsive and friendly team! We had a fantastic time watching a great selection of films and connecting with fellow filmmakers. The venue was very unique too and added to the experience. We're very honored that Alien Guy Tim received the Best Short award—thank you for the recognition!

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Tom Maher

    Great people to work with and a an amazing experience!

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Shawna Brandle

    Unfortunately, we were unable to travel to Tokyo for the live event, but we were thrilled to be a part of this festival. Communication was clear and professional, and we were honored to be amongst other quality work in this selection of films. Thank you to the staff at Kaminari!

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Chavo Photo

    Such a fun and friendly festival!
    Thanks so much for having my film — I had a great time and really appreciated the love and support.

    June 2025
    Helpful