The latest film in the hit sci-fi series Avatar continues the storytelling of acceptance, identity and love, said director James Cameron.
"Avatar: Fire and Ash", the third installment in one of the most lucrative film franchises globally, opened Friday in the Chinese mainland alongside its North American release.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) earlier this month, Cameron said the film explores how those born different integrate into society and embrace their identity -- a topic of profound relevance in the real world.
"Jake and Neytiri, as much as it's a very romantic story with them, they're also an interracial couple. And so they have mixed-race children who maybe don't fit into their community, maybe they're judged more harshly. These are issues all over the world. I think acceptance, once again, it goes back to being seen. Does Jake see his son, Lo'ak? Does he understand the pain that he's in, the doubt, the self-blame, all of those things? Well, Jake is blinded by his own self-blame. And Neytiri is just blaming everybody. She goes to a very dark place," he said.
"So the characters are at risk. We feel for them. We want this to get resolved for them, because we like them. We care about them. I think that's just an aspect of storytelling that this film is not afraid to go into," said Cameron.
The 198-minute "Avatar: Fire and Ash," grossed 101 million yuan (about 14 million U.S. dollars) on its opening day in Chinese mainland, indicating a steady market response amid increasingly diversified audience preferences. The film accounted for more than 46 percent of total screenings on the day.
Avatar 3 tells story of acceptance, identity: director
Organizers hope an exhibition of historical photographs documenting Japanese imperialism and depicting horrific scenes from the 1937 Battle of Shanghai will help the Japanese citizens to understand the atrocities committed by their military in China during World War II.
This exhibition, "Echoes of China," on display in downtown Tokyo is a story not often told in Japan, showing the full brutality of Japanese military aggression during its invasion of China.
The display is being held by three men who have striven to make this history public, after one of them, Frenchman Marcus Detrez, made an unsettling discovery in his grandparents' home in 2021.
He said he never knew his grandfather witnessed the brutality, and was shocked at what he saw.
"I found a box. I had seen the box many times but I never dared opening it. Actually I opened it and I found the horrible pictures. The first one was the man with the exploded head. That's the first one I encountered. Extremely shocking," said Detrez.
The discovery led to the formation of a three-person team which wants to share these lessons from history.
In August, they donated the newly found photos to China at its French embassy.
"Echoes of China" held their first Tokyo exhibition in October. And this time, they are displaying some explicit photos for the first time.
"For this exhibition, we'd like to display a bit more cruel and hard pictures so that the people can understand what really happened in China in that time. It's not like to try to take hatred towards Japanese people. It's more like we have to face our history to make a better future," said Bastien Ratat, another co-founder.
Their efforts have stirred controversy in both France and Japan. While online backlash accusing the images of being fake, Detrez even lost his job in France. But the team are undeterred, saying the images are evidence.
"My [our] people was be [were] killed. And when we prepared this exhibition, it's so complicated. In my heart, I feel so sad but I cannot hate the Japanese people. We just want to show that we can't let it happen again," said Zhong Haosong, another co-founder.
The team say they believe the images will be safer in China and help it to convince more people about the truth. They intend to evolve "Echoes of China" into "Echoes of the World" as they continue their efforts to bring historical injustices to light.
WWII photo exhibition in Tokyo uncovers Japanese military's atrocities against Chinese civilians
