SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW SCREENING followed by a Q&A session with the film’s director, producer, coproducer / editor and narrator

Please note early start time.
(Japanese title: Bômei) Japan, 2010. 133 minutes
Directed by Han Guang
Produced by Tetsujiro Yamagami
Coproduced and edited by John Junkerman
Narrated by Roger Pulvers

Film courtesy of Siglo, Ltd.

In Chinese, with English narration and subtitles

The Movie Committee is honored to present this very special sneak preview screening of Outside the Great Wall.

At a time when China has joined the economic powerhouses of the world, it has also erected a new Great Wall against free speech and democracy, blocking the flow of information among Chinese and from overseas. This brave documentary features interviews with 12 prominent Chinese intellectuals and artists living in exile, from Nobel Prize-winning writer Gao Xingjian in Paris and novelist Zheng Yi in Washington, to Tiananmen student leaders Wang Dan and Zhang Boli, and the "Godfather of Chinese Democracy" Xu Wenli. The story of these courageous men and women, scattered to the far corners of the world, is the story of the struggle for freedom and human rights in China, from the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen to the present. Their fight continues today.

We hope you will join us for this exciting opportunity to preview this important film and discuss it with the filmmakers afterward.

Director Han Guang was born in northern China and attended college in Japan. He won the Asahi Journal Prize for nonfiction writing in 1992 for Auntie So’s Sea. In 1999, Han completed his first documentary, Where is Grandma Zheng’s Homeland? about the return of a Korean “comfort woman” to her homeland from China. His next film, Gai Shanxi and Her Sisters (2006, also screened at FCCJ) depicted sexual slavery in the remote Shanxi Province of China.

Producer Tetsujiro Yamagami is the founding president of Siglo, Ltd., and has produced over 70 documentaries and feature films, including award-winning titles by John Junkerman (Japan’s Peace Constitution), Yoichi Higashi (The River with No Bridge and Village of Dreams), Makoto Sato (Artists in Wonderland and Out of Place: Memories of Edward Said) and Ryosuke Hashiguchi (Hush! and All Around Us).

Coproducer-editor John Junkerman is an American filmmaker who has worked with Siglo on many films. His first film, Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima, was coproduced with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian John Dower and nominated for an Academy Award. His 2002 film, Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times, produced by Siglo, received widespread theatrical distribution. His acclaimed 2005 film, Japan’s Peace Constitution, was a hard-hitting look at the conservative Japanese government’s plan to revise the nation's constitution and jettison its famous no-war clause, Article 9.

Narrator Roger Pulvers is an American-born Australian who has lived in Japan for nearly 40 years. An author, playwright and theatre director, he is also active in the film industry. Pulvers has published 25 books in Japanese and English and is currently a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

A picnic dinner is available at a cost of 1,365 yen (including beverage, popcorn and tax) for those who wish to eat right before the film begins. Please choose between Picnic A Sandwich (Tuna with Green Olives, Tomato, Cucumber, Lettuce, Roasted Red Peppers and Oregano Cream Cheese on Baguette) or Picnic B Sandwich (Marinated Mushrooms, Hummus, Tabouli, Garlic Yoghurt & Salad Wrap). To help us plan proper seating and food preparation, please reserve by noon on the day of the screening at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161). Please pick up your ticket at the front desk from 6:00 pm before collecting your picnic and beverage choice at the lobby bar. Cancellations received after noon on the day of the screening will be charged in full.

You may attend the film without ordering a picnic dinner. Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161) to allow for seating arrangements.

All movie screenings are private, noncommercial events restricted to FCCJ members and their guests.

Karen Severns, Edwin Karmiol, Movie Committee