Visas and Virtue

Visas and Virtue (1997)

A short film inspired by the true story of Chiune Sugihara

Europe, 1940. For thousands of Jews, a Japanese diplomat and his wife defy Tokyo and the Nazis, and offer visas, for life.

Date of release
1997-05-01
TMDB
6.6 / 10 (7)
Runtime
26m
Genres
Drama, History
Director
Chris Tashima

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 1 · Nominations: 1. Including: Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

Visas and Virtue is a 1997 narrative short film directed by Chris Tashima and starring Tashima, Susan Fukuda, Diana Georger and Lawrence Craig. It was inspired by the true story of Holocaust rescuer Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara, who is known as "The Japanese Schindler". Sugihara issued over 2,000 transit visas to Polish and Lithuanian Jews from his consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, in August 1940, in defiance of his own government (Japan), thereby allowing an estimated 6,000 individuals to escape the impending Holocaust.

Background

This film is a dramatization (docu-drama) and contains fictional characters and events. It is not a documentary. It is based on an original one-act play by Tim Toyama, which was performed at The Road Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 1995. The play was then adapted by actor/director Chris Tashima in 1996, and completed as a 26-minute film in 1997.

Visas and Virtue won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in March, 1998 (70th Academy Awards). The Oscar statuettes went to actor and director Tashima and producer Chris Donahue.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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