Whereas years ago JAFF offered the only opportunity in Estonia to see Asian cinematic art, the situation has now changed and competition has become more intense. As a result, the festival's program has expanded. It no longer focuses narrowly on Japan or even Asia alone, but also brings a broader range of international films to audiences.

Novod said that Japanese animation has become increasingly popular year by year. "On the one hand, that's very nice; on the other hand, it's harmful to JAFF as an annual spring event, because when the festival started 20 years ago, you could only really see anime in cinemas or occasionally at home. Now it's so accessible, and over the course of a year many distributors and cinemas screen anime," he explained.

This year's lineup includes several important international films that have not previously been shown to Estonian audiences. For example, the festival program features the animated film "Ne Zha 2" by Chinese director Jiao Zi, which is currently fifth on the list of the highest-grossing films of all time, with box office earnings of more than $2.2 billion. The program also includes the anime "New Dawn" (Hana rokushô ga akeru hi ni) by director Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, which premiered this year at the Berlin International Film Festival.

"JAFF can afford to take risks you don't usually see in theaters," he noted, adding that they are also bringing audiences the three-hour Japanese film "The Kabuki Master" (Kokuhô), which was screened at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in a limited number of showings and was nominated for an Oscar. "It wouldn't have received wide distribution, but at the same time it's the highest-grossing film in Japanese cinemas," Novod said.

The 20th JAFF takes place April 16–26.

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