ABDUCTEES' RELATIVES JOIN FILMMAKERS IN BOSTON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2006

Washington, DC Relatives of people abducted by North Korea will be the featured guests of “ABDUCTION The Megumi Yokota Story” in Boston during two screenings of the film. Teruaki Masumoto and Kenichi Ichikawa will be present during the film’s Boston Premiere for a question-and-answer period afterwards. The film will be shown as part of the Independent Film Festival of Boston and will compete for the top prize.
“We’re really excited to have them join us,” said Chris Sheridan, who along with his wife Patty Kim, directed the award-winning documentary film. “Having the relatives there after the film makes the experience of the abductions so much more real to Americans.”
“ABDUCTION” is a 85-minute documentary film that tells the story of Megumi Yokota, a 13-year-old Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean spies. The film follows her parents’ emotional decades-long quest to bring her home. Yokota was one of 13 Japanese people that North Korea admitted to kidnapping.
Masumoto is the secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea. His sister Rumiko was taken in August, 1978 in Kagoshima. Kenichi Ichikawa’s brother, Shuichi, was dating Rumiko at the time and was kidnapped with her. They were on a date at the beach when it happened. Their story is told, in part, in “ABDUCTION”.
Both Masumoto and Ichikawa will be in the United States as part of a Japanese delegation that will testify before Congress on the abductions the week after the Boston screenings. Those screenings will take place on Saturday, April 22, 8:30pm, at Somerville Theater and Sunday, April 23, 12pm, at Coolidge Corner Theater.
“ABDUCTION” is produced in association with the BBC. Jane Campion, the Oscar-winning director of “THE PIANO,” is the Executive Producer.

For more info on the film, visit www.safarimedia.net
For more info on the festival, visit www.iffboston.org