SEDONA VIEWER COMMENTS

Hi again...

We received this email today, one day after returning from the Sedona International Film Festival. This woman attended the sold-out show on Saturday and this is what she wrote us...


As a mother and grandmother, I experienced the overwhelming angst felt by Megumi's mother--there can be no greater loss than having a child simply disappear. No doubt, she felt nothing but guilt for the longest time and castigated herself daily with the "if only" syndrome. Mrs. Yokota was simply raising her three children with great hopes and expectations for their futures, knowing that her strong love and daily concern for their welfare would bring the desired results. There was no way for her to prepare for the horror which so suddenly turned her world upside down.

Mrs. Yokota must know that all mothers feel her pain and know the horrendous price she has paid over the years, although she was absolutely free of blame--there is evil in this world and good people are not always capable of confronting it because they seldom recognize it until after the fact.

The impact on the entire family is staggering--they have lived a "cause" rather than a life . What makes it more frustrating is the fact that the North Koreans prefer to cover up their evil, even when presented with facts, rather than expose those guilty of this heinous act.

Mrs. Yokota has hopefully had some assurance that Megumi has at least had a home and family, food and shelter over the years, even though she had no freedom to return to her real homeland.

Again, Patty, you have done a splendid job of presenting this heartwrenching story of one family's fight against evil. The Yokotas need to give themselves permission to live now and enjoy their grandchildren before poor health renders that an impossibility.

Fran
Sedona, Arizona

SEDONA FILM FESTIVAL

Hi folks...I'm writing to you from beautiful Sedona, Arizona. It is absolutely gorgeous here! We arrived Thursday night after a long trip and had our first screening Friday morning at 8:15am. Woke up to an orange sun and the red rocks that surround the town. You'd think 8:15 would be way too early for a film screening (especially during the week) but the theaters were packed. We had a great audience and a very enthusiastic Q&A afterwards. There are a lot of questions raised by this film and people wanted to know as many answers as they could get. The Sedona crowd is amazing. They are mostly retired or close-to-retirement age and they love to come out and support the events in their community. The support for the Sedona festival is enormous. It feels like the whole town comes. This is what film festivals should be like and other festival organizers will hopefully notice this...it's a festival put on for the people who live here. Our second screening on Saturday afternoon was sold out and was followed by a very lively Q&A. For the first time, a North Korean sympathizer stood up and began to accuse us of being biased against North Korea. We have prepared for this for a long time so we began to discuss all the issues that concern many Korean people about the history between Japan and North Korea. But to our absolute surprise and shock, many members of the audience began to defend the film erupting into an intense and interesting debate about the politics in the region. This is very good and it's what we hope would happen. Dialogue, even in the form of debate, is always good. We expect this will happen as we continue on the film festival circuit where there are more diverse populations with differing points of view. We're back on Monday and won't be at the next festival until Cleveland on March 18th. Hope to see some of you there!

LATEST AUDIENCE REACTION

ABDUCTION caught me entirely by surprise. The filmmakers have exceptional access....To put it succintly, this is one of the most emotionally draining films that I've seen in ages. If someone doesn't acquire this immediately, I'll have to start a company and do it myself.

- Jonathan

The film is incredible and I know people will love it when it comes here!

- Jeremy

CNN and Canada's CBC

We're baaaack. We apologize but we didn't get to alert you all to the latest story on CNN about the recent talks between Japan and North Korea. The story, which aired mostly on CNN International in Asia, included our film. We are hoping to get a copy and will post it as soon as we do. We wanted to let you know that we will be interviewed live on Canada's CBC Radio on Sunday, February 12th at 08:00am U.S. Eastern Time. If you live in Canada you probably won't get the broadcast unless you live in Montreal. You CAN however listen to it online by clicking on the following link...

http://www.cbc.ca/allinaweekend/anna.html

Next screenings

Hi all...Sorry for not updating as regularly as we should be. We're getting a lot of emails asking us when and where people can see it. Rest assured, it will come to your city within the next year but we just don't have a firm schedule yet. We will have regular updates so keep checking here and on our main page for more info. As for DVDs, we are not releasing any yet but we will at some point in the future. We're sorry we can't be more specific but it is still early in the life of this film. We are really grateful for the interest and we want all of you to see the film soon. Please keep checking here and we promise we will update the blog.

--Chris and Patty

MORE AUDIENCE REACTION

I loved your film!! I got chills several times. Wonderfully edited and executed. Could you put me on a mailing list to let me know what happens with the film?

-Troy

Your film is truly amazing, had me on the edge of my seat, and crying at moments, and feeling so much for the parents.

-Heather

SUBLIME. It's one of the most incredible documentaries I've ever seen.

- O

Amazing film.

- SJ

VARIETY REVIEW

Hello again. Patty's still recovering from our 10 days in Park City. She caught some bug and has been laid up in bed. I think the anxiety and stress of the premiere finally caught up with her. Everything else is moving along smoothly. We need to build off the momentum of the award and the sold-out shows to continue to keep the interest high in the film. Recently, the entertainment trade publication "Variety" wrote a pretty decent article about the film. It's our first real review and it's a great start. Here it is...


VARIETY, JAN. 30, 2006


By JOE LEYDON


Winner of the Audience Award for docs at Slamdance 2006, "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story" looks, sounds and fascinates like an exceptional episode of a true-crime TV series. Helmers Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim skillfully use interviews, reportage and archival material -- and an absolute minimum of dramatic re-enactments -- to provide narrative momentum for their stranger-than-fiction scenario. Well-crafted pic could score in global tube markets.

Early scenes detail what appears to be a routine missing persons case: In 1977, 13-year-old Megumi Yokota disappears without a trace on her way home from school in Niigata, Japan. But the seemingly ordinary tragedy turns out to be part of an extraordinary conspiracy. As decades pass, journalists and government investigators discover Megumi and several other unfortunates were abducted by North Korean spies, who used their victims as role models while training agents to convincingly pose as Japanese citizens. Megumi's parents emerge as sympathetic figures as they join other families in pressuring Japanese officials to demand the return of their long-missing loved ones. But even as public outrage mounts, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi must balance the grief of individuals against the demands of realpolitik.