Sister Brother Manhole Cover, directed by Macedonian filmmaker Milcho Manchevski, received the Tokyo Grand Prix/The Governor of Tokyo Award, the top prize at the 2026 Tokyo International Film Festival. The award includes a cash prize of JPY3 million ($19,000), according to the festival’s awards announcement.

The film was one of 15 titles in the main competition. It follows siblings in post-Communist Macedonia who steal bronze busts and manhole covers for a living. After one of them is injured, they come into contact with the Macedonian underworld.

Sun Xun’s animated feature Magic Atlas received the Special Jury Prize, accompanied by JPY500,000 ($3,160). The Singapore production combines animation with ink wash painting, medieval European engravings and other artistic styles; Sun spent ten years making the film.

Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso won Best Director for Double Freedom, about a woodcutter who must consider taking in his sister after the mental institution where she lives closes. Hu Ling was named Best Actress for The Night That Binds Us, a France-Hong Kong production directed by Wang Jiangyong. Narita Ryo won Best Actor for Two Cigarettes, Three Nights, directed by Mishima Yukiko. The Best Artistic Contribution award went to Serbian filmmaker Jelena Maksimović’s Until The Day Ends, while the Audience Award was given to Heysel 85, directed by Romania’s Teodora Ana Mihai.

In the Asian Future competition for emerging Asian filmmakers, Tareq Daoud’s Afghan film Serife Tavsan won Best Film and its JPY1 million prize. The Special Mention went to Indonesian drama Jani Be Good, directed by Ariani Darmawan.

The festival also presented awards in several other sections. Silver Express, directed by Tanaka Miki, won Best Film in Nippon Cinema Now, while Between Us, directed by Matsumura Shingo, received that section’s Special Jury Prize. Running Wild In The Sun won Best Film at the Asian Students’ Film Conference, where Everything’s Peachy and All Of Her shared the Special Jury Prize. Isabelle Stever’s I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming received the TIFF Ethical Film Award.

The main competition jury was headed by Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer. The Tokyo International Film Festival ran from October 26 to November 4, 2026.

Sources: Deadline.