> YIDFF 2025

There are films that can only be seen in Yamagata. The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2023 was held normally for the first time in four years after the COVID-19 pandemic. Once again, film fans from around the world will gather in “Yamagata, the Film Capital of Japan.” In 2021, when the film festival was held online, a long-established pickle store that had been the venue for the festival’s symbolic night time social venue, “Komian Club,” went out of business, and the man who had been the backbone of the film festival passed away suddenly . . . The four years since the last regular festival was held have been a time of many challenges for the film festival. The 2023 film festival will overcome these major challenges and make a new start. Through interviews, we will look into the significance and appeal of the festival, as well as the thoughts and determination of the people involved.