Japanese embassy, Islamabad art festival organise film shows

Islamabad :As a part of the ongoing cultural activities Japan celebrating ‘A Month of Japanese Culture,’ the Embassy of Japan together with the Islamabad Art Festival 2019 has organized Japanese Film Shows at the Islamabad Club auditorium on 22nd, 26th, 27th and 28th November 2019.

Yusuke Shindo, Charge d’ Affaires, Embassy of Japan in Pakistan, today attended the screening of inaugural film ‘Graves of the Fireflies.’

‘Grave of the Fireflies’ directed by Isao Takahata, is a Japanese animated film based on a war story. The young boy Seita and his younger sister Setsuko are the main characters who are depicted living in Japan during World War II.

Seita and Setsuko are represented as the victims of the war because they need to struggle with the oppressive conditions each day of their life. The film demonstrates how the life of the whole family is destroyed due to the war because the mother dies as a result of firebombing, the fate of the father is unknown, and two young children die from malnutrition

The goal of ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ is not to present the horrors of the war with the help of demonstrating the firebombing and the struggle of the soldiers, but to focus on the people’s emotions and perceptions because of the necessity to struggle for survival.

It’s not all suffering and desperation, though. There are magical moments of natural beauty and childish delight, too - which only make the tragedy even more harrowing. Yusuke Shindo while speaking on the occasion said that the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan with the support of the Japan Foundation has been holding film shows since 1995 aiming to provide an opportunity for the people of Pakistan to witness various aspects of the Japanese lifestyle, culture and society through an important medium of films.