Thailand and Nepal’s Oscar entries head to Tokyo FILMeX as Lee Kang-sheng joins jury

Tokyo FILMeX has put Thailand’s and Nepal’s Oscar submissions in its 2026 competition, according to Variety, giving both films another festival showing when the event runs in Tokyo from November 20 to 29. Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng has also joined the international jury that will choose the competition awards.

The films are ‘9 Temples to Heaven’ and ‘Elephants in the Fog,’ two of the 10 titles listed on the festival’s competition page. Variety reported that Lee will sit on a three-member panel, with the other jurors to be named later.

Which films are competing at Tokyo FILMeX?

Abinash Bikram Shah’s ‘Elephants in the Fog’ won the Jury Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. Variety reported that it was the first Nepali film selected for Cannes’ official program. The two Oscar submissions now enter a Tokyo competition open to emerging Asian directors whose films were completed in 2025 or 2026; four selections are debut features.

The lineup also includes Filipino filmmaker John Torres’ first narrative feature, ‘The Remotes,’ a neo-noir about a widowed detective who links fatal road crashes to a voice app meant to retrain reckless drivers. Novelist Maha Harada’s directing debut, ‘In My Father’s Room,’ is set to open the festival, Variety reported.

What will Lee Kang-sheng’s jury decide?

The festival identifies Lee as a Taiwanese actor, director and screenwriter. Variety said he has appeared in every feature by filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang since ‘Rebels of the Neon God’ in 1992. The international jury will select the competition winners: the festival lists a Best Picture Award carrying 700,000 yen for the director and a Special Jury Prize carrying 300,000 yen for the director.

Variety said the awards ceremony is scheduled for November 29, the final day of the festival’s November 20–29 run in Tokyo’s Yurakucho district.