ExclusiveBeijing-based sales agent Rediance has joined Japanese director Fujimoto’s Rohingya refugee drama Lost Landahead of its premiere in the Horizons Competition section of Venice.
The Japan-Malaysia-German collaboration is the first ever Rohingya language film, played entirely by the Rohingya.
The story follows a four-year-old boy and his nine-year-old sister who leave Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camp on a dangerous journey to reach Malaysia in the hopes of being reunited with scattered families. They spend endless days in overcrowded smuggler boats until the incident is lost in Thailand.
More than 200 Rohingya people participated in the film, including a young sibling who plays the main role. There were no trained actors.
“What makes this film extraordinary is the Rohingya cast telling their own stories. The stories that most of them lived in personally continue to be a continuous reality for our people.”
Osaka-born director Fujimoto is known for his socially engaged films and has been working on films in Southeast Asia, particularly Myanmar for 12 years.
“I’ve heard a lot about the repeated persecution endured by the Rohingya people. It’s hard to believe that such cruelty exists in today’s world,” he says. “In Myanmar, speaking openly about the Rohingya was considered taboo, so I remained silent for fear of professional consequences, and that silence was a burden and led to this film. Lost Land. ”
Among the supporters is Kazutaka Watanabe’s Exn KK, who produced Fujimoto’s previous film, the panoramic film and the Erome Initiative for the Anguerre des Romes.
Fujimoto’s 2017 debut feature Passing through life It is a Japan-Myanmar collaboration, recipient of Best Feature and has received the Best Director of Asia in the Asian Future Section in Tokyo. Then the 2020s continued Along the seapremiered in San Sebastian and continued to explore the themes of transition and identity.
The filmmaker was in Berlin Le in 2024 as part of a director’s showcase for Japanese cultural issues. Lost Land With potential international partners.
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