3rd Okinawa International Movie Festival　March 18 (Fri.) ～27 (Sun.), 2011

Message from Foreign Countries

Russian Ambassador to Japan

Mikhail Mikhailovich Bely

On behalf of the Russian people, I express our heartfelt condolences and sympathies for the victims and families of those affected by the “Great Tohoku Earthquake”.

After the earthquake, President Medvedev of the Russian Federation immediately called Prime Minister Kan to extend his condolences, and to inform him that we stood ready to provide any assistance necessary to deal with this disaster. EMERCOM rescue teams were dispatched to the affected areas, and relief supplies have been delivered. And the Russian government has also prepared to supply essential energy resources.

Russia considers Japan a good neighbor, and we have a long relationship of friendship and cooperation. The Russian people have been shocked by this incident, and we feel great solidarity with the Japanese people and a desire to be of assistance. Many organizations in Russia have offered “summer youth recreation facilities” for children in the affected areas, and have facilities prepared to take care of the injured.

Together with the assistance and cooperation of the international community, the Japanese people will surely overcome these difficulties and challenges, and in doing so we believe that Japan will become an even stronger and abundant nation.

We feel that it was a wonderful idea to change the main slogan of the “Okinawa International Movie Festival” to “Yell, Laugh & Peace”, “Sending Encouragement from Okinawa to the People of Tohoku”, focusing the festival on charity.

We also look forward to next year, when the “Okinawa International Movie Festival” will continue to present “Movies, Video and Content” from around the world under the theme of “Laugh & Peace”, a theme worthy of a great film festival.