Japanese film festival gets underway at the Deepam Cinema |01 February 2024

People passionate about Japanese culture can now feast their eyes on three movies being screened at the Deepam Cinema for the second Japanese film festival, which got underway yesterday.

The first movie to be screened in front of a small audience was ‘After the Sunset’.

The three-day festival is being organised by the Japanese embassy in collaboration with the Japan Foundation, the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts (Snicha) and Deepam Cinema.

Present to officially launch the event, were the secretary general for the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts, David André, and Second Secretary for the Embassy of Japan in Seychelles, Tomotaka Ishizu.

Mr André expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the Japanese embassy and the Japan Foundation “for bringing the magic of Japanese films to Seychelles.”

He also had some inspiring words for young Seychellois artists with a keen interest in filmmaking.

“We hope that this film festival will serve as a source of inspiration to our upcoming Seychellois filmmakers.”

For his part, the Japanese representative, Mr Ishizu thanked the local partners for their kind support and expressed great excitement to be able to share the Japanese cinematic world once again to Seychelles.

“The Japanese film industry is one of the oldest and largest industries in the world,” he stated.

Seychelles and Japan have a relationship with a long history, said Mr Ishizu. He outlined the bond by giving the audience a short trip down memory lane through the work of a Japanese photographer.

For yesterday’s screening, the audience was given a questionnaire for their reviews.

Meanwhile, today’s screening is reserved for primary and secondary students, from several schools bordering town, namely Mont Fleuri primary and secondary, Persévérance primary and secondary, Plaisance primary and secondary, English River secondary as well as private schools.

The other two movies being screened are ‘Children of the Sea’ and ‘Our Sound’.

Kassey Govinden