Film separation method and film separation apparatus

A film separation apparatus for separating a film attached to a film application surface of a wafer comprises a wafer adsorption unit for adsorbing the wafer with the film application surface up, a release tape supply unit for supplying the release tape onto the film application surface, and a heating unit for pressing and heating only a part of the release tape against the wafer film at an edge of the wafer. Thus, the adhesion between the release tape and the film is increased at the particular part of the release tape. The apparatus further comprises a peeling unit for separating the film from the film application surface of the wafer using a release tape with a part of the release tape having an improved adhesion as a separation starting point. Thus, the surface protective film can be easily separated from the wafer.