Press release

Special premiere of a japanese film held at the national art gallery, islamabad

Islamabad: 28th February 2013

The Embassy of Japan in Pakistan and TOEI Company of Japan, in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) have organized a Special Premiere of a Japanese film “Sougen no Isu (A Chair on the Plains)” on February 28, 2013 at the National Art Gallery, Islamabad.

Mr. Masahiko Nishimura, a prominent Japanese actor in the film, came all the way from Japan to attend the premiere show of the film at the National Art Gallery as a special guest.

“Sougen no Isu”, based on a novel written by a prize- winning Japanese writer Teru Miyamoto, is the first ever Japanese film shot in Hunza valley and Skardu in August 2012. The film is directed by Izuru Narushima, whose most recent film “Rebirth” won ten awards in Japan Academy Awards last year.

The film features a middle-aged Japanese man’s quest for hope after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake through his journey to Hunza with his close friends of the same generation; his client but close friend, a divorced woman and a boy who is mentally wounded after being abused by his mother. The film aims to encourage people to go forward in their own way, not giving up in today’s Japan.

Mr. Akira Kono, Charge’ d Affaires, Embassy of Japan, while speaking at the Special Screening of ‘Sougen no Isu’ said that this film is a fruit of the friendly relations between Japan and Pakistan for which the two countries celebrated 60th anniversary last year, and the mutual cooperation between the two nations was eternalized in the form of this movie. Pakistani crew members who contributed in the making of this movie were invited to this premiere.

Mr. Kono also said that this movie was special because it had been released in Japan only 5 days earlier and today being screened in Pakistan. “At this very moment”, he said “there are thousands of Japanese movie-goers watching the same movie at the theaters in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, or all over Japan”. He also appreciated the cooperation of TOEI Company, the distributor of the film, for making this possible.

Mr. Kono extended very warm welcome to Mr. Masahiko Nishimura, one of the main characters in the film, for travelling all the way to Islamabad from Japan to join the audience at this special premiere of the film at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

The film will also be screened at the PNCA in the morning on March 1st.(End)