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Big celebrity volunteers filled the stage |
 Here in Okinawa, big celebrities filled the festival stage, like actors Yousuke Eguchi, Kotomi Kyono, Miwako Ichikawa, and Masato Ibu. And what is more surprising, they were all volunteers. They were all working up a sweat in the heat, shouting to sell T-shirts and asking the public for donation. Festival-goers were excited by these unexpected guests. Satoshi Kawamitsu, a local comedian with the nickname "Kawamitsu-sensei" also supported the festival as a volunteer. (He is taking an active part in "Zoom In! Asa (morning)" on TV as a reporter in Okinawa.) The duo "Yamuchin," a band popular for their live performances in Okinawa, played for people waiting in a line for the festival. Thus, many people supported the festival in different ways in Okinawa. photo: Yamuchin's live performance) |
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On the second day in Naha we had a ceremony. The hall, which accommodates 950 people, was filled to capacity. The ceremony started with musical performances by Ground Self Defense Force and the Okinawan Festival Band, which formed just for today. A song "Bashofu" sung by Reiko Kaneshima, speeches from Mayor Oyamadori, Ms. Torigoe--an Executive Director in Okinawa--and Tetsuya Bessho, and a commendation for organizations that supported the festival followed. The ceremony ended with a narration by Masato Ibu, which made the ceremony even more deluxe. The OS program screened afterwards.
This is the second year that Okinawa has hosted this festival. The Executive Director this year was Ms. Kazue Torigoe. We asked her about her thoughts on the festival. "It was last December that I heard the festival would be held this year again. We started to prepare for the festival after New Year's Day. Last year, it was like, we got together with our friends to run the festival, but this year we expanded the scale of the festival and many people were involved for their first time. I put forth a lot effort to make them feel comfortable to join us. We have also collected a lot of questionnaires this year. All of the questionnaires that we had prepared for the first and second days of the festival were gone within a day, so we were urged to reprint them. We were pleased to receive so many comments from the audience. Many of them said, 'I like that this festival is operated by many volunteers,' or 'I want to join the volunteer activities next year.' We loved those comments. We had about 100 volunteers everyday from all over Japan like Hiroshima, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Akita. We started this festival to provide people in Okinawa with an opportunity to see short films. This year, we expanded the theme of the festival into 'let's deepen our friendship through the festival.' We are all expecting that the executive director for next year's festival will do his/her best to make this festival even more powerful and enriched." (photo: greetings at the ceremony)
Time flies. This was the last program for two days. Before the last films were shown, Director Masahiro Kobayashi, who has submitted his films to Cannes International Film Festival for two consecutive years, came onstage to discuss short films. "Even though these films are short, each one of them represents its country's character very well. I myself like French movies, so two French films in the international program attracted my interest. Long movies are made commercially with lots of money from various companies, but short films, on the other hand, are made by an individual with his/her own money. I have made two films like this." He also talked about the festival. "It was nice to hear that this festival began with the desire to have a film festival without commercial purposes. I want filmmakers to keep making handmade films. I'd like everyone to support that too."
