Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2026
Nominated films in Cinematic Tokyo Competition

• DOUBLE OR NOTHING

  Tokay / 0:09:40 / Switzerland / Animation / 2025

  

  Inspired by an anecdote from booming Tokyo in the 1980s, the film tells the glamorous story of the real estate shark Akio Kashiwagi.
  Akio's great passion is illegal gambling in the underworld. An American is on his trail and tries to track down stolen money. He realizes that he can only win it back at the gambling table. The master gambler Akio accepts the challenge. However, he doesn't realize that his only really dangerous enemy in the game is himself with his insatiable greed for more and more.

• Shibuya Meltdown

  Paris Victor / 0:04:33 / France / Animation / 2024

  

  Shibuya Meltdown is the story of an office worker, drawn in by the call of drawing. One evening, in a Tokyo alley, a simple bowl of ramen leads him down a new path. A magic, poetic, and deeply human film.

• Tears Burn to Ash

  Natalie Murao / 0:15:00 / Canada / Drama / 2025

  

  An encounter with a doppelganger cracks open the edges of reality, as a return to the homeland becomes a search through memory, absence, and the ghosts of identity.

• Tokyo Submarine

  Ryosuke Takahashi / 0:24:55 / Japan / Drama / 2026

  

  Behind Tokyo's glittering noise, everyone carries their own story. Sen Fukami, 42, spends his days drifting through a life that feels stuck. Then he meets a mysterious man, Sakari Hatano, and his everyday life slowly begins to shift. This is a coming-of-age story of two middle-aged men in Tokyo.

• Tokyo Tourism Paradox

  Hiroki Yamaguchi / 0:06:55 / Japan / Sci-Fi / 2026

  

  In a near-future Tokyo pushed to the extreme of hyper-tourism, first-time visitor James is captivated by a carefully staged “Tokyo experience,” but gradually begins to realize that the city is an illusion. In a metropolis designed to be seen, what will he ultimately encounter?