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Invitation to Okinawa Event and Films

Okinawa is a chain of islands in southwestern Japan blessed with very pleasant climate

throughout the year. With some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and marine

areas, Okinawa is now one of the most popular destinations within Japan. The cultural

exchange with China and Southeast Asian countries has fostered the formation of a

distinct culture on Okinawa. With its splendid natural beauty and its charming culture,

Okinawa is also the setting for numerous movies that have been filmed there.

To honor the second participation in the European Film Market this year as part of the

64th International Film Festival Berlin 2014, Okinawa Prefecture and OCVB Okinawa

Film Office will host an Okinawan event with the cooperation of the Embassy of Japan,

and will also show a series of Okinawan films that were all shot in Okinawa on the

Embassy premises.

Dates:

11 Feb., 2014 (Tue) 6:30 p.m. (Admission: 6:00 p.m.) Okinawa Event

12 Feb., 2014 (Wed) 6:30 p.m. (Admission: 6:00 p.m.) Okinawa Films A

13 Feb., 2014 (Thu) 6:30 p.m. (Admission: 6:00 p.m.) Okinawa Films B

Venue:

Event Hall, Embassy of Japan (Hiroshimastr. 10, 10785 Berlin)

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Okinawa Event (in English)

There will be a presentation on the first "Kinder International Film Festival in Okinawa

(KIFFO)" to be held in March 2014, which is modeled on the Berlinale Category

“Generation”, as well as performances of Okinawan traditional music which have been

used by the renowned director Doris Dorrie and others in movies. You’ll also discover

awamori, an alcoholic drink that is an Okinawan regional specialty, and experience the

sound of traditional folk songs that will touch you like a warm breeze from Japan’s

southernmost island. Experience all the richness of Okinawa’s arts.

Program

6:00 p.m. Admission

6:30 p.m. Welcoming remarks: Takeshi Nakane, Ambassador of Japan

Welcoming remarks: Jinshun Uchima, General Manager OCVB

Presentation: Okinawa Film Office promotion

Presentation by Ms. Takako Miyahira: KIFFO“Forgingchildren’sbondsthroughfilms”

Reception (Awamori tasting)

Kanako Horiuchi performs Okinawan folksongs

Okinawan Films (Japanese with English subtitles)

On two consecutive days there will be screenings of, inter alia, the trailer to the short

film "The Path of KUMIODORI"--which takes traditional Okinawan theatrical

perfomance "Kumiodori" as its topic--as well as the films "Leaving on the 15th Spring"

and "The Coral Rangers," which look at the lives of people on small remote islands. It

will be a good opportunity for you to understand and find what real Okinawa is.

Okinawan Films

12 February, (Wed)

“The Path of KUMIODORI” trailer to the short film: 1 min.

“Indigo Love” short film, duration: 20 min.

“Leaving on the 15th Spring” future film, duration: 114 min.

13 February,(Thu)

“The Path of KUMIODORI” trailer: 1 min.

“Rose Balsam” short film, duration: 11 min.

“The Coral Rangers” future film, duration: 100 min.

RegistrationIf you would like to attend any event, please register by email with

(kultur@bo.mofa.go.jp) by 9 February, 2014 (Sun). Please write in the subject line,

“Okinawa Event and Films”, state the program you would like to attend (1. Okinawa

Event; 2. Okinawa Films A; 3. Okinawa Films B), and include your name, organization

and e-mail address. You will receive a confirmation email. Please note that the number

of participants is limited and that you will need to present your ID / passport for

admission.

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Leaving on the 15th Spring (Original Title : Tabidachi no Shimauta)

Directed by Yasuhiro Yoshida, 2012/Japan/114min/5.1ch/Digital

Synopsis

Yuna is a 15-year-old girl living on

Minami-Daito island with her father,

Toshiharu, who runs a sugarcane field.

Minami-Daito island is located

approximately 360km east from

Okinawa Island. Since there is no high

school, students have to leave the island

when they graduate from junior high

school. Next spring, Yuna will move to

Naha to enter high school just like others and live with her mother, Akemi. Akemi

accompanied Yuna’s brother and sister when they went on to high school. Even though

they have already finished school, she hasn’t come back and the family lives apart now.

Yuna is worried that her father will be left alone on the island and wishes all of her

family would live together some day.

Yuna is a member of Borodino mu-su-me; they play a sanshin and sing traditional

island songs. According to the island’s custom, girls who leave the island sing “Abayoi”,

the song of farewell and expressing gratitude to their parents.

For her last stage performance Yuna sings “Abayoi” with all her love, loneliness, and

longing for her family and the island.

The Coral Rangers (Original Title : Sango Ranger)

Directed by Yuji Nakamae, 2013/Japan/100min/5.1ch/Digital

Synopsis

Ishigaki Island in Okinawa is a

beautiful island which attracts many

divers and travelers because of its large,

valuable coral reef.

In the summer of 2013 people in Ishigaki

Island face the escalating conflict between

the supporters and the opponents of a

large-scale bridge construction project that

would destroy the beautiful coral reefs.

In the middle of the conflict, Yajima, a ranger for Nature Conservation of the Ministry of

the Environment, is transferred to the Ishigaki branch office. The job of a ranger for Nature

Conservation is planning the construction projects to protect nature. Having a strong sense

of justice, Yajima decides to call himself “Sango Ranger”; the Coral Ranger, and stand up

against the construction project for coral reefs even though planning the construction is his

duty. His decision astonishes the people in the Ishigaki office.