The Embassy of Japan in Rwanda on Wednesday, November 12, hosted a premiere screening of the iconic sci-fi animation AKIRA

The premiere screening event took place on the occasion of celebrating 15 years of the Embassy’s cultural presence in Rwanda.

It also aims to build momentum for the Japanese Film Festival scheduled to take place at Francophone Cultural Centre in Kimihurura from December 16-19 where a total of eight films (4 animation films and 4 live-action films) will be screened particularly.

Directed by Otomo Katsuhiroat in 1988, Akira is among leading anime films which will be showcased at the festival, joining a host of live-action films like Dreaming of the Meridian Arc and The Lines That Define Me among others.

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About the film

Akira’s story starts after World War III and takes place in 2019 in a rebuilt Tokyo.

Kaneda, a biker gang leader, and his friend Tetsuo live reckless lives racing through the city. One night, Tetsuo crashes into a strange boy who has mysterious powers and is taken away by the military.

When Kaneda tries to rescue him, he discovers that government experiments have given Tetsuo dangerous psychic powers and as those powers grow out of control, they threaten to destroy everything around him.

For a random observation it is about how power can destroy people and society when it’s not controlled or understood.

At the same time, the story reflects how governments and science can go too far in trying to control nature and people, leading to disaster, just like the war that destroyed the world before.

However, at its core, Akira is about friendship, power, and responsibility, and how unchecked ambition, whether personal or political, can cause destruction.

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How relevant is Akira?

Yuta Moriguchi, the head of the Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Section at the Embassy of Japan in Rwanda said that Akira talks about contemporary society and also nostalgia to Japan’s Showa era in the 1960s, 80s.

"The movie talks about the apocalypse, the theme which was really popular at that time and there is somehow a link between that time and now. The film is still popular worldwide, especially overseas, not in Japan,” he explained.

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Moriguchi said that the selection of the film was to show to the audience its values since the latter was a milestone to Japanese film and animation films were really getting popular and getting a large audience.

"It’s been 15 years since we opened our Embassy in Rwanda,” noted Moriguchi. "That’s why we are doing this film festival, especially for this year. Every year we do this kind of film festival, but one projection, one film. This is our historical turning point in the activities of the Embassy and we would like to make more efforts to do many events in terms of cultural activities. That’s our determination.”

"We did this advance screening because we would like to let the audience know that there will be a big cultural event in Rwanda and we hope that as many Rwandans as possible will come and enjoy the value of Japanese culture in Rwanda,” he said.

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With the attendance of both ambassadors Isao Fukushima of Japan and French Ambassador to Rwanda Aurélie Royet-Gounin, the event aimed to celebrate Japan’s cinematic heritage while strengthening cultural ties between Japan and Rwanda.

"As the Francophone Cultural Centre, we are honored to co-host the Japanese Film Festival,” said Ambassador Aurélie Royet-Gounin.

"Our center has collaborated with the Japanese Embassy in Rwanda since 2023 on the annual Ghibli Film Festival. This year, a total of eight films are scheduled for screening, and we sincerely hope that as many people as possible will watch them,” she added.

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Ambassador Fukushima also noted that "we hope that the Japanese Film festival will serve as an opportunity for you to experience the values of Japan’s world-renowned anime culture and film works and discover contemporary Japanese society.”

"Japanese anime and films are now highly appreciated worldwide and will likely continue to gain popularity in Africa, including Rwanda,” he said.