DIANA FROM HONG KONG

Bridging Worlds Via Words

Venue(s): Ikebukuro Cinema Rosa
May 24 (Sat), 2025 to May 30 (Fri), 2025
Language: Japanese and Chinese with English and French subtitles
Official website: bit.ly/43vqYWd
Theater website: www.cinemarosa.net/
Theater website: bit.ly/3SJS7zo
Theater website: bit.ly/3FphyTR
Trailer: https://bit.ly/4jfcmQv
Tariff: General: ￥1,500 (single film viewing)
Advance tickets: https://bit.ly/45jFkLy

Title: 香港來的Diana～香港から来たダイアナ (Hong Kong Láide Diana～Hon Kon kara Kira Diana, Diana from Hong Kong)
Director: Naoki Fujimoto Duration: 84 min

Writer-director Naoki Fujimoto’s independent film Diana from Hong Kong takes its characters—and viewers—on an inspiring journey that crosses borders, sheds light on societal contradictions, and bridges generations. It will be screening for a week in Ikebukuro with English subtitles.

Diana Sato (playing a version of herself) left Hong Kong for Tokyo in search of stability for herself and her 8-year-old son, Eiji. She works in the nursing care industry but starts a small Chinese conversation class on the side to help save for her son’s education. Her quiet life begins to change when one of her first students, Taku Nagayasu, signs up for lessons.

Taku is part of Japan’s so-called Lost Generation— unable to build a promising future. Drifting from job to job, Taku finds a flyer for Diana’s class and, with no clear plan, decides to give it a try. What begins as awkward language lessons slowly evolves into something deeper. As Diana opens up about her memories of Hong Kong, Taku begins to see beyond his own stalled life. He learns of the protests erupting in her hometown, where ordinary citizens are risking everything to resist the erosion of their freedoms. Diana, watching from afar, is devastated by the collapse of the “one country, two systems” policy and the growing crackdown by the Chinese government. Her grief resonates with Taku, who is stirred by her strength and pain. Taku begins to change. He takes his first uncertain steps toward reinvention—not just for himself, but in solidarity with those who dare to speak up.

Diana from Hong Kong is a quietly powerful docudrama that explores how two people—one shaped by political exile, the other by economic displacement—find connection and new purpose through shared language and compassion. Against a backdrop of global unrest and lost dreams, the film is a meditation on resilience, identity, and the unexpected ways lives intersect.

Cinema Rosa