Film screening and Discussion
Join us for a special screening of Lost Land on the eve of World Refugee Day, an international day designated by the United Nations to honor the strength, resilience, and courage of people forced to flee their countries due to conflict or persecution. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Writer and Director Akio Fujimoto and Consulting Producer Eric Nyari to deepen understanding, foster empathy, and engage in meaningful dialogue about the global refugee experience -- highlighting the importance of safety, opportunity, and dignity for all refugees.
The film follows four-year-old Shafi and his nine-year-old sister Somira, Rohingya refugees who embark on a perilous journey from a refugee camp in Bangladesh to Malaysia in hopes of reuniting with their scattered family. Their story reflects the harsh realities faced by millions of refugees worldwide as they flee violence, persecution, and instability while seeking safety and rebuilding their lives in unfamiliar places.
LOST LAND (HARÀ WATAN)
Akio Fujimoto, 2025, 99 minutes.
Rohingya and Malay with English subtitles.
Akio Fujimoto (Writer / Director / Editor) is a Japanese filmmaker known for his intimate, socially engaged cinema. Born in Osaka in 1988, he trained in film at the city’s Visual Arts Academy. His debut feature, Passage of Life (2017), a Japan-Myanmar co-production, received international acclaim, winning the Best Feature and the Spirit of Asia Best Director awards of the Asian Future section at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He continued exploring migration and identity in Along the Sea (2020), presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival. Drawing on personal and cultural experiences, his work blends fiction and documentary with a restrained, humanistic approach, often focusing on the lives of those at the margins.
Filmography:
Passage of Life - 2017 Japan / Myanmar (Tokyo IFF 2017 – Best Feature Film / Best Director), Along the Sea - 2020 Japan / Vietnam (San Sebastián – New Directors; Tokyo IFF – World Focus),
Bleached Bones Avenue - 2020 Japan / Myanmar short film
Based in Tokyo and New York, Eric Nyari is a two-time Oscar and BAFTA nominated, and Peabody-winning film producer. He is active across narrative, documentary, and restoration projects. He has managed 4K restorations of classic Japanese films such as Kenji Mizoguchi’s UGETSU, SANSHO THE BAILIFF, and A STORY FROM CHIKAMATSU with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, as well as Hiroshi Inagaki’s THE RICKSHAW MAN, Yasujiro Ozu’s LATE SPRING, and Kon Ichikawa FIRES ON THE PLAIN. He has produced numerous films in Japan, including Amir Naderi's CUT, Yoshifumi Tsubota’s THE SHELL COLLECTOR, Stephen Nomura Schible's RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA, Yoichiro Okutani's ODORIKO; Takeshi Fukunaga’s AINU MOSIR and MOUNTAIN WOMAN, Ema Ryan Yamazaki's KOSHIEN: JAPAN’S FIELD OF DREAMS and THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE, Neo Sora's RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS, and Tetsuichiro Tsuta's BLACK OX. He has also served as an Executive Producer and Consulting Producer on films such as Danial Raim's THE OZU DIARIES and Akio Fujimoto's LOST LAND.
In 2024, Sora's narrative feature debut, HAPPYEND, premiered at Venice and won awards around the world. In 2025, Shiori Ito’s BLACK BOX DIARIES and Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART were nominated for the Oscars, a historic first for Japanese films in both the Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short categories. He became the first person in over 30 years to be nominated for Best Doc Feature and Best Doc Short in the same year.
LOST LANDS (HARÀ WATAN)
Host
Tue, Jun 09, 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM (EDT)
To be shared on approval (New York)
30 attendees
Film screening and Discussion
Join us for a special screening of Lost Land on the eve of World Refugee Day, an international day designated by the United Nations to honor the strength, resilience, and courage of people forced to flee their countries due to conflict or persecution. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Writer and Director Akio Fujimoto and Consulting Producer Eric Nyari to deepen understanding, foster empathy, and engage in meaningful dialogue about the global refugee experience -- highlighting the importance of safety, opportunity, and dignity for all refugees.
The film follows four-year-old Shafi and his nine-year-old sister Somira, Rohingya refugees who embark on a perilous journey from a refugee camp in Bangladesh to Malaysia in hopes of reuniting with their scattered family. Their story reflects the harsh realities faced by millions of refugees worldwide as they flee violence, persecution, and instability while seeking safety and rebuilding their lives in unfamiliar places.
LOST LAND (HARÀ WATAN)
Akio Fujimoto, 2025, 99 minutes.
Rohingya and Malay with English subtitles.
Akio Fujimoto (Writer / Director / Editor) is a Japanese filmmaker known for his intimate, socially engaged cinema. Born in Osaka in 1988, he trained in film at the city’s Visual Arts Academy. His debut feature, Passage of Life (2017), a Japan-Myanmar co-production, received international acclaim, winning the Best Feature and the Spirit of Asia Best Director awards of the Asian Future section at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He continued exploring migration and identity in Along the Sea (2020), presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival. Drawing on personal and cultural experiences, his work blends fiction and documentary with a restrained, humanistic approach, often focusing on the lives of those at the margins.
Filmography:
Passage of Life - 2017 Japan / Myanmar (Tokyo IFF 2017 – Best Feature Film / Best Director), Along the Sea - 2020 Japan / Vietnam (San Sebastián – New Directors; Tokyo IFF – World Focus),
Bleached Bones Avenue - 2020 Japan / Myanmar short film
Based in Tokyo and New York, Eric Nyari is a two-time Oscar and BAFTA nominated, and Peabody-winning film producer. He is active across narrative, documentary, and restoration projects. He has managed 4K restorations of classic Japanese films such as Kenji Mizoguchi’s UGETSU, SANSHO THE BAILIFF, and A STORY FROM CHIKAMATSU with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, as well as Hiroshi Inagaki’s THE RICKSHAW MAN, Yasujiro Ozu’s LATE SPRING, and Kon Ichikawa FIRES ON THE PLAIN. He has produced numerous films in Japan, including Amir Naderi's CUT, Yoshifumi Tsubota’s THE SHELL COLLECTOR, Stephen Nomura Schible's RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA, Yoichiro Okutani's ODORIKO; Takeshi Fukunaga’s AINU MOSIR and MOUNTAIN WOMAN, Ema Ryan Yamazaki's KOSHIEN: JAPAN’S FIELD OF DREAMS and THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE, Neo Sora's RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS, and Tetsuichiro Tsuta's BLACK OX. He has also served as an Executive Producer and Consulting Producer on films such as Danial Raim's THE OZU DIARIES and Akio Fujimoto's LOST LAND.
In 2024, Sora's narrative feature debut, HAPPYEND, premiered at Venice and won awards around the world. In 2025, Shiori Ito’s BLACK BOX DIARIES and Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART were nominated for the Oscars, a historic first for Japanese films in both the Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short categories. He became the first person in over 30 years to be nominated for Best Doc Feature and Best Doc Short in the same year.