Notes from Okinawa and our preview screening at Ryukyu University
Our first night in Okinawa, our producer Koide picks us up with his schoolmate Higa. Higa’s ancestors were pirates who fled the mainland centuries ago and settled in Okinawa.
Koide takes us to the Sakurazaka theatre, a new three-screen art house in downtown Naha that Koide thinks would be a good premiere venue for the film. Koide’s plan is to build buzz and political support with preview screenings in Okinawa, open theatrically here, and use the ensuing publicity to set ourselves up for a distribution deal or theatrical self-release on mainland Japan.Koide is opening an animation studio in Fukuoka in southern Japan, and he plans to start a branch in Okinawa, so he’ll be back regularly to oversee grassroots marketing for the the film.At Sakurazuka we met several young Okinawan entrepreneurs, and a student from Ryukyu University, where we’ll hold a preview screening Saturday. A U.S. helicopter crashed there a few years ago.
Among the entrepreneurs is Ishihara, who owns an interpreting and consulting company. Ishihara set up the preview screening, and she’s been one of our biggest supporters here. She’s also fully bilingual, which is a big help for me.Some of the other entrepreneurs are concerned about how Okinawan audiences would react to the political content of The First Breath of Tengan Rei. But after we show them the new cut, they’re convinced, though they still feel it would be controversial. Our little private audience responds very emotionally, particularly the student. They will marshal their considerable resources to help promote the film.The Marines cancel the meeting that I had set with Col. Powell, the media officer for Okinawa. Col. Powell is hosting a high-ranking military official from D.C., and is booked all week. The Marines are implementing a training program to try to prevent future rapes, and we’re hoping we might be able to participate in the program, screen on base, or at least get the Marines to send a representative to one of our screenings. They agree to meet with Ishihara on our behalf after we’ve left town.Tom Kruetzer, the Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Consulate, is expecting my call. He heard about us from the Marines. We check our cell phones and cameras at the consulate gate. A new, truck-bomb proof gate is under construction. In his office, Kreutzer is friendly. He says our conversation sets his mind at ease about anxieties passed along from the Marines. Kreutzer wishes us luck but declines to participate in the screening. He says he prefers to keep the dialogue government to government. He thinks the U.S. did a better job with the rape case earlier this year by condemning the attack promptly. He wants Okinawans to realize that Americans don’t tolerate rape – where he comes from, they would get their guns and hunt down the rapist personally. This is what he says.We meet with the head of the TV station Q.A.B. He’s personally supportive of the project but is cautious not to draw attention to the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by two Marines and a sailor. When his station drew parallels between a recent, similar case and the 1995 incident, he was blasted for insensitivity.The stations head’s uncle was one of 10,000 Okinawans killed in World War II at Sugar Loaf Hill, not too far from where we’re meeting. Okinawa just commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the end of hostilities. We see anti-military demonstrators outside the prefectural office, where they protest regularly. We use audio from one of these demonstrations in the film.
Our investor Sakaguchi takes us to meet with the recently elected Gov. Nakaima at the prefectural office. He’s an official in the Okinawa Department of Labor. Sakaguchi provided our introduction to many of our key supporters on the island.In the prefectural office, a woman serves us tea in a room with embroidered walls and ceiling-high calligraphy scrolls. Four secretaries in traditional Okinawan kariyushi shirts stand in the doorway, attentive. Nakaima likes Chicago. He remembers tall buildings and good steak and that you could still smoke in blues clubs (not anymore).After the meeting we debrief in a café on the top floor of the office, looking out on the Naha skyline as A Fifth of Beethoven and a Muzak version of We Are The World are piped into the room. When we leave the prefectural office, a moth lands on the student’s neck. I hope it’s not poisonous.
We do interviews with the top two Okinawan newspapers, the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shinpo. The reporters ask us about our intentions, why we chose Okinawa, what we want to say to the Okinawan people. The Ryukyu Times reporter has also been to Chicago. He spent $600 20 years ago for a suite at the Intercontinental with a Jacuzzi in the middle of the bedroom. He asks me how I think Obama would change U.S. foreign policy if elected. I tell him I’m hopeful that Obama would improve international relations by holding real dialogue. He really wants to know what Obama would do about the bases in Okinawa. I have no idea.The Okinawa Times article comes out the morning of our screening at Ryukyu University. It’s accurate and supportive. An Okinawan residents’ group has just been granted a cash settlement from the Japanese government in a lawsuit to stop the U.S. from holding deafening helicopter exercises above their homes at night. The exercises will continue. This is the day’s top story, but we are prominently featured as well.The Ryukyu Times reporter comes to the screening and will report on it for Monday’s paper. We set up chairs in the aisles to accommodate the overflow audience, which sits rapt through the screening. There are a couple of Marines in the audience.
My interpreter was the interpreter for the defendants in the 95 case. She says she has spoken with soldiers who are like Nelson in the film, who feel that after finding religion in prison God has forgiven them and they are absolved. She says that an earlier version she saw of the film was too painful for her, but she likes this version better.
The post-screening discussion is deep and heated, with questions about our responsibility to the real victims, the Christian imagery in the film, the meaning of forgiveness, the portrayal of Okinawa’s natural beauty vs. its ugly realities. On the audience response forms, particularly the younger audiences are excited about the film and say they will recommend it to their friends.After the screening, I ask Ishihara why she has worked so hard to set up this event and support our film. She says it’s because she has a seven-year-old daughter who is very curious and who will no doubt explore many social circles. Ishihara wants to help make Okinawa a better place for her daughter to grow up.I’ll post links to the Ryukyu Shinpo and Okinawa Times articles, with translated versions, and video of the post-screening discussion. Meanwhile, there’s a gallery of photos from Okinawa on our Facebook page.While you’re there, please sign up to become a “fan” of The First Breath of Tengan Rei!
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i’m amazed by what you guys are pulling off. it’s really inspiring! i look forward to hearing more.