Director Junya Sakino has tapped Steven Man to play the lead role in his dramatic tale, "Orizuru", an original screenplay scheduled to commence production early November, 2005. This will be Sakino's second project through DiVerse Pictures. Produced by Lendi Slover, this historical drama finds it's setting in the last stages of WWII, between 1941-1945. An American diplomat, Gregory Jackson (Steven Man), arrives on an intelligence mission to Hiroshima, Japan. Tensions between the two countries are at an all-time high, yet despite the hostile political climate and cultural taboos, a beautiful, young interpreter for the Japanese government falls into Jackson's world. Their secret affair leads to a child; all too soon, however, utopia is shattered when Jackson unexpectedly and seemingly without reason is recalled to the US, alone. Communication is virtually non-existent, but four months later on December 7th, 1941 they get much worse and the reason for his sudden departure becomes all to clear: Pearl Harbor. Jackson does everything in his power to expedite the arrival of his soon to be wife and newborn son to the US, however, Chizuko (Atsko Hirayanagi) is dealing with her own demons: she has been disowned by her powerful family. Her secret relationship and unwedded pregnancy to a foreigner disgraced her family and in losing face, she has been thrown to the streets to live a life of servitude. It is now Jackson from whom she keeps the truth. Over the next months, Jackson fights for any means of contact, but the gauntlet of war has been thrown down and it is then that he learns of a far greater problem, the "Manhattan Project". On July 25, 1945 President Truman noted in his personal diary that he ordered the atom bomb to be used on Hiroshima. He said he believed he was targeting "military objectives" and "not women and children". Truth and fiction weave such a fine braid in this heart-wrenching story, Sakino calls upon audience to find their own answers to war. Literally translated to English, Orizuru (') means the Japanese origami crane that is made from the art of folding paper. The Orizuru has become a symbol of peace in part from the legend that says anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their dream come true and in part because of a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was two years old when nuclear bomb that dropped on Hiroshima, miraculously she survived but was exposed to significant amounts of radiation. By the time she was twelve in 1955 she was dying of leukemia. Believing in the power of the Orizuru, she wrote a haiku (a Japanese poem) "I shall write peace upon your wings, and you shall fly around the world so that children will no longer have to die this way" and passionately started to fold 1,000 cranes so that she could live. She folded 644 before she died. The community folded the remaining number and she was buried with a wreath of 1,000 cranes. To celebrate her strength and humanity, Hiroshima erected a statue of Sadako in Hiroshima Peace Park: a young girl standing with her hands outstretched and a giant paper crane (Orizuru) flying from her fingertips. Every year the statue is adorned with thousands of wreaths of a thousand origami cranes. Junya Sakino arrived to the United States five years ago from Hiroshima, Japan with the focus of making a film that would impact generations to come. On this path, he has had great support and success working on films including Casshern and Rings, produced by Dreamworks and directing the award winning film, The Jazz Addict. In his role as a graduate student director, by way of California State University, both his films, Vanity Mirror and The Spiral Ring are award nominees. Steven Man is making a significant impact as a leading man having entered the acting field through the independent film community and is garnering critical acclaim with all his projects. Currently he can be seen in the film noir, "Sweet Deadly Dreams", which is touring the festival circuit, "Savage Island" (widely available) which have collectively garnered almost a dozen "Best Picture Awards"! Next? the dark drama, "Edge of Nowhere". Pick up a copy of "The Cut" magazine this December to catch a feature story on Steven or come to Tulsa, OK "Script to Screen Film Festival" where he is nominated for Best Actor and "Sweet Deadly Dreams" is nominated for Best Picture! On the eve of August 5th, 1945 Gregory Jackson, broken, stares out the window of his Washington home, it is now 8:15am in Hiroshima. Is war really the answer? For more information on the film, "Orizuru", Director, Junya Sakino and actor Steven Man, please contact Crown Media International, email: CrownMediaInt@gmail.com, (310) 600-0575. Quick look: www.imdb.com, www.stevenman.net |
