From Fukushima Drama To A Horror Anthology From ‘The Violinist’ Studio: 5 Animated Features Head To TIFFCOM

TIFFCOM, the industry arm of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), has announced the 24 feature projects selected for the seventh edition of the Tokyo Gap Financing Market (TGFM), taking place October 28–30.

Previous TGFM selections will likely be familiar to animation audiences, including Annecy Cristal winner The Violinist and the 2025 Annecy Festival audience award winner and Oscar nominee Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.

Of the 24 feature projects selected for this year’s edition, five are animated. From Japan, Princess Zonof is directed by YKBX (a.k.a. Masaki Yokobe) and produced by P.I.C.S.; both are known for their music video work. Also selected is Mahora, directed by Ayumi Moriyama, who has worked as a key animator on various Pokémon series, and produced by OLM, the studio behind Pokémon and recent hits such as The Apothecary Diaries.

From abroad, the CG-animated fantasy adventure Formiga, directed by Bruno Bask, comes from Brazilian studio Mono Animation. The international co-production Back to Tomioka, produced by Foliascope and directed by François Marc-Baillet, is adapted from the graphic novel by Laurent Galandon, who wrote the screenplay, and Michaël Crouzat, who was previously attached to direct. The story follows two children orphaned by the Fukushima disaster who travel across the country to scatter their grandmother’s ashes on her old farm.

TGFM’s animated selections also include a buzzy project from Robot Playground Media, the Singapore-based animation and VFX studio known for its work on The Violinist, created and co-directed by studio co-founder Ervin Han. Titled A Banquet For Hungry Ghosts, the film is a horror anthology based on the young adult book by Ying Chang Compestine.

According to the studio, it “blends Chinese customs, culture and cuisine into 10 stand-alone horror stories set in different time periods and global locales.” The anthology is directed by Spencer Ooi and will be co-produced in Singapore, Taiwan, Ireland, and Malaysia.

A Banquet For Hungry Ghosts is part of a five-feature showcase from Frontières, the genre film co-production market organized by Canada’s Fantasia International Film Festival, with which TIFFCOM recently announced a partnership.

Feature Films – Animation

Back to Tomioka, François Marc-Baillet (France, Poland, Belgium, Hungary)

Formiga, Bruno Bask (Brazil)

Princess Zonof, YKBX (Japan)

Mahora, Ayumi Moriyama (Japan)

Frontières Selection Feature Film – Animation

 A Banquet For Hungry Ghosts, Spencer Ooi (Singapore, Taiwan, Ireland, Malaysia)