Friday, April 20th, the second day of 10th Okinawa International Movie Festival, saw bright sunshine and a tropical atmosphere at the Naminoue Umisora Park. It was filled with onlookers who were there to enjoy dance performances by students from Yoshimoto’s newly formed Laugh & Peace Entertainment School Okinawa and students from the Hinton Battle Dance Academy. The show was titled “The Greatest Showman Greatest Laugh & Peace Show” and was a based on numbers from the Hollywood movie The Greatest Showman.

First-year students from the Laugh & Peace Entertainment School took the stage and danced to “This is Me,” a tune from The Greatest Showman. The young dancers from the Department of Performing Arts in the Performer Course acquitted themselves admirably in this ambitious piece. Hinton Battle, a Broadway legend who has won 3 Tony Awards, produces the dance program at the school.

Hinton Battle appeared stage and announced 1st year students who were training in ballet, hip hop, modern and tap at his school, the Hinton Battle Dance Academy, would perform next. 20 First-year HBDA students danced a 7-minute jazz piece and demonstrated their remarkable technique. Hinton noted, “I personally teach the students once a week and observe all the classes.”

The Movie Festival also put on a major conference on Friday afternoon in the building of the Laugh & Peace Entertainment School Okinawa. It hosted a key session focused on the Russian animation industry, which has interesting parallels with the Japanese industry, but is also quite unique.

On the panel was Dmitry Birichevsky, Minister Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Japan, who started by asking attendees if they enjoy watching animated shows on TV with their families. When everyone raised their hands, he said it is much the same in Russia, but it was not always that way. Birichevsky explained that when he was a young boy, Soviet animated shows were aimed at children and featured only animal characters.

To show how the industry has evolved, subtitle translator Natalia Yurkanova gave a presentation on its history. She explained that the animation studio Soyuzmult film was founded in 1936 and grew so quickly it was soon known as “the Disney of Russia.”

After viewing some clips, one panelist, the comedian Sakura Inagaki saki, said she was surprised by how much the style of animation varies from one show to another. Yurkanova explained that under policies introduced by Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase film production, the number of animation studios has risen to 70.

Film screenings highlighted the second day of the festival as well. The screening of one of the films in the “Special Invitation” section of the 10th Okinawa International Movie Festival was very much a homecoming for the cast and crew. The romantic drama Jimami Tofu was shot at locations around Okinawa, as well as Singapore, the home country of its two directors. Okinawan-born actress Rino Nakasone noted that she often sees films at Sakurazaka Theatre, and was thrilled to see herself on the screen there. Star and co-director Jason Chan recalled “when we first came here two years ago to film, there were so many things about Okinawa we fell in love with. The movie is our love letter to Okinawa.” Co-director Christian Lee said he was thrilled to learn that the Japanese premiere screening sold, as did screenings in Singapore and Hawaii, but was quit to add that this was not because of the creative team, but because of “your culture, your history, everything about Okinawa.”

Chan plays Ryan, a Singaporean chef who is introduced to what Okinawans call “life medicine,” meaning good home-style cooking, by Nakasone’s character Nami. Having studied trendy cooking in Tokyo, Ryan is intrigued by the “elegant but understated” presentation of Okinawan food. He becomes an apprentice to the restaurant’s owner Sakumoto, played by another Okinawan actor, Masane Tsukayama. Nami falls for Ryan, but he cannot get over his ex-girlfriend, the successful restaurant critic Yuki (Mari Yamamoto).

Two classic films from the oeuvre of legendary martial artist Sonny Chiba, Doberman Deka and Terror of Yakuza, were shown on Friday. Chiba’s career in Japan dates back to the 1950s and he is also highly popular overseas, where he has worked with one of his biggest fans, Quentin Tarantino. Although Chiba was born in Fukuoka, he has a special connection with Okinawa and the Okinawa International Movie Festival, which he has attended several times.

Chiba appeared at the screenings and told the audience that he identifies with the character he plays in Terror of Yakuza, who says he only wants to protect Okinawa as it prepared to return to Japanese control in 1972. The actor/marital artist said the people of Okinawa persevere despite their troubled history. “That is why I always find something dramatic when I come to Okinawa,” he said. “If I go out drinking, I talk to people. Someone will tell me about their life, and I say ‘That sounds like it could be a movie! Tell me more!’”

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