A film festival that spotlights the lives of refugees from various parts of the world and their strong will to live kicked off in Tokyo on Saturday.
According to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, a record 70.8 million people -- about 25.9 million refugees and about 41.3 million internally displaced people (IDPs) -- have been forcibly displaced from their homes by conflicts, persecution and other reasons worldwide. It is difficult for those of us living in Japan to witness the reality of their daily lives. Some even think that refugee issues are too difficult to understand.
Launched in 2006, the annual event, once titled UNHCR Refugee Film Festival, dropped the word "refugee" from its name this year and is now instead called UNHCR Will2Live Cinema festival. The move is aimed at attracting a wider audience and enabling more people to understand who refugees are on a personal level.
"We hope the film festival will help more people in Japan understand refugees. This is not history -- it's about what is happening in the world right now," said Yuki Moriya, a public information officer at the UNHCR Japan office. "Through watching the films, we hope more people will think closely about what they can do for such people."
During the festival period that will run through Oct. 14 -- until Oct. 5 in Tokyo and on Oct. 13-14 in Nagoya -- seven titles will be screened mostly on weekends. Three titles are being screened for the first time in Japan during the festival. Five of the seven films are documentaries. Most have both Japanese and English subtitles.
At the film festival's opening on Saturday, the documentary "Midnight Traveler" by Afghan director Hassan Fazili was screened for the first time in Japan at Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Tokyo in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Fazili recorded his journey with his wife and two daughters through Tajikistan, Turkey and Bulgaria in search of a safe place to live after the Taliban put a bounty on his head and the family was forced to flee Afghanistan. He used smartphones to record the journey.
"Watching the film made me want to learn more about refugees in Japan because the film focuses on refugees abroad," said Aysegul Takeuchi, a 19-year-old university student who came to the event with her friend.
Admission to the event is free, but nonprofit organization Japan for UNHCR, the organizer of the film festival, is raising funds to support UNHCR.
For more information on films and screening schedules, visit the film festival's official website at:
https://unhcr.refugeefilm.org/2019/
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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