Synopsis

The story of an extraordinary Japanese diplomat who sacrificed his own diplomatic career during World War II to write the precious visas that saved an estimated 2,000 to 6,000 lives.

At 5:15 one summer morning in 1940, Chiune Sugihara, Japan's Consul-General in Lithuania, awoke to the sound of over 200 people filling the crowded street outside his Consulate.

Consul Sugihara immediately hid his wife and children, fearing an attack.

It did not take him long to realize that those outside were Jews hoping to get visas permitting them to escape Nazi-occupied Europe.

While American Consuls through the neutral world were instructed not to grant such visas, the Japanese Consul Sugihara took it upon himself, in direct defiance of his government's orders, to do just that, working day and night to issue an estimated 1600 visas.

Credits

Director: Katsumi Ohyama
Producers: Tetsuo Suzuki (Fuji TV), Naonori Kawamura and Toshio Ozawa (Kazumo Co., Ltd)
Original Story: Yukiko Sugihara
Script: Sentaro Kubota
Production: Mamoru Sasaki
Music: Kensaku Tanikawa, sung by Yuka Kamebuchi
Cinematography: Takumi Seki and Satoshi Furutani
Starring: Go Kato, Kumiko Akiyoshi, Misako Konno, Mizuho Suzuki, Jiro Karasawa

Copyright © 1992 Kazumo Co. Ltd.

For More Information

Contact Marty Gross Film Productions, Inc.
videos@martygrossfilms.com or tel: 416.536.3355