Director's Message
It is my great pleasure and honor to be able to have produced the film, “KATHPUTALI, the Girl Came from the Mountain.” I am especially grateful to the excellent film staff members in Nepal, without whom this film would not have been possible.
The aim of this film is to describe the spiritual transformation of a human child into a fairy. In this film, Nepalese village life and the importance of nature are well described. The unique beauty of the natural landscape and the integration of the local people into that natural system are a main focus of the film. People live a simple and religious life in the villages, but the outside world has a place too because there are some importance UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the area.
Still, the culture of the Nepalese has been affected by internationalization: what once was a very religious culture has become more secularized. Once, the local people were very close to nature; now, now they are not. In this film, the fairy will teaches the value of closeness to nature; the importance of family and human relationships within the natural world, and the need for cooperation.
The modern life, no matter how convenient it may be, often causes us to forget the most important values---the values upon which all human society is based.
I would hope to communicate the importance of tradition and its relationship to environmentalism to Japan and the technological societies of the Western world.
In addition, I would like to appeal the Nepal people to maintain the unspoiled beauty of the natural landscape of Nepal and its traditional respect for nature.
Few months ago, I visited Nepal for the first-time, I recalled my youth and the stories I had learned in my childhood. I have deep feelings whenever I visit Nepal.
These feelings have produced the script for this film.
I hope audiences of all over the world will come to understand the beauty of the Nepalese landscape and important religious life of the people. I cannot really claim any personal credit for this film; this is because the people of Nepal are the real actors and producers of this film.
Toshiaki Itoh
Director : "KATHPUTALI, the Girl Came from the Mountain."
Associate Professor
Department of Media and Culture
Studies of Tokyo University of Information Sciences.