Saturday, November 15, 9:30AM, the movie “English Vinglish” was screened in Hall 1. After the movie, a talk show was held with director Gauri Shinde and Atsushi Omukai. Interviewer was an announcer Momoe Ishii from TSS.

“English Vinglish” is an Indian movie which was released in 2012. It is attracting great attention all over the world now. In Canada, it was nominated for the audience award of the Toronto International Film Festival. In Japan, it has been shown since June 2014, and it has impressed many audiences and told them how a woman lives strongly or how a mother is warm.

Director Guauri Shinde greeted “Konnichiwa Hiroshima (Hello Hiroshima)” in Japanese at the beginning of talk show, and she talked about her thought on the theme of mother and women. “I wrote the scenario with thinking about my mother. The heroin is a shy lady who loves her family so much and cares about them. I think anyone should have strong power. Taking a step forward with a little courage, anyone can show their true strength. I hope the audience will catch this message from watching this film,” she mentioned. This film was her first feature film, though she made a lot of CMs and short films so far. “I have dreamed to make a feature film for long time, but the ideas comes up again and again after I decided the theme. My mother didn’t meet a French guy, by the way. (laugh) ”

Another guest in this talk show, Atsushi Omukai, is the man who brought “English Vinglish” and realized showing it in Japan. He found this film on the way to Hong Kong from India when he was still an office worker, as it was shown on the plane. He was moved by this film and decided to quit his job to import it. According to him, he got support from his wife on buying this film. “I thought this film is a gold mine of words of wisdom. When I took my wife to see it at a movie theater in Hong Kong, she said she wants me to buy it,” he told a dramatic inside story. “Without Mr. Omukai, I couldn’t participate in HIFF. Thank you for leaving your job, Mr. Omukai (laugh),” director Shinde appreciated to him with joking, which brought a warm atmosphere around the hall.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Omukai bought another film “DABANGG” at the same time he bought “English Vinglish”. “DABANGG” is like a typical Bollywood film which contains a lot of singing and dancing, ‘the Indian movie’ if you would say. This film is also worthy to check out in order to understand the lure of a Bollywood movie.

At last, director Shinde left her message to Hiroshima. She said “I imagined Hiroshima is a brave city which has done great reconstruction from the war before I left India, but actually I came to see Hiroshima, it is a very beautiful and sophisticated city. I learned a lesson that we can rise up again from whatever we have experienced in the past and got powerful energy from Hiroshima.”