Saudi Gazette In a bid to showcase the diversity of Asian cultures, traditions and art, the 9th Asian Film Festival was officially inaugurated on Thursday at the Garden Residence of Matahiro Yamaguchi, consul general of Japan, in Jeddah. The festival, organized by the Asian Consuls General's Club (ACGC), will continue until March 11, featuring 10 movies from Pakistan, Korea, China, Sri Lanka, India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Movies will be screened at six different venues comprising the residences of the Korean, Japanese and Indonesian consuls general and the consulates of Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India. Dharmakirty Syailendra Putra, consul general of Indonesia and ACGC coordinator for this year, welcomed the guests and thanked them for attending the cultural festival. "Cinema is one aspect of a country's culture as it reflects the real life and imagination of its people; it keeps the environment full of excitement and the art of filmmaking is advancing every day," Syailendra Putra said. "I hope this year's film festival and food festival will be a complete success and will be helpful to promote the mutual understanding and friendship between the Asian countries," he added. Earlier, the consuls general of the ACGC unveiled the festival logo. Yamaguchi thanked the guests for "being there at the start of the festival. In his speech, he extended his heartfelt gratitude to the consul general of Indonesia for his great efforts in launching this year's film festival. He gave a synopsis of the movie "Always: Sunset on Third Street", a 2005 Japanese drama directed by Takashi Yamazaki, winner of nine awards, including Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year in 2006 and 2015. The film, which bagged 12 of 13 possible awards at the 2006 Japanese Academy Awards, tells the story of a group of people who live and work in a rundown neighborhood and their impact on one another's lives. The film weaves together the stories of two young people who end up on Tokyo's Third Street. A girl from the countryside comes to Tokyo to take up a job at Suzuki Auto. She soon discovers that her workplace is actually is a small garage on Third Street in the down-at-heel Yuhi district that lies behind Tokyo Tower and that her company has no connection to the vast automobile empire. A young novelist meets a boy who was abandoned and is forced to take him in for the time being. The relationships between the two young people develop reasonably and eventually lead to a powerful, heart-wrenching yet warm ending. Around 300 guests, including Saudi dignitaries and diplomats, attended. They were given a taste of Japanese food before the opening ceremony. An Indonesian film night will conclude the festival on March 11, followed by a festival for Asian food on the same night where each country will present its famous dishes and cuisines.
