{ "id": "epnwphxpkg", "slug": "lost-land", "title": "Lost Land", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2025", "label": "Drama films 2025", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2025" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2025.coming-of-age-and-family-drama-films", "label": "Coming-of-age and family drama films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2025.coming-of-age-and-family-drama-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Asia (other) · 2021 and later: Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021", "label": "Asia (other) · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Lost Land (LOST LAND／ロストランド, Hara Watan) is a 2025 drama by Japanese director Akio Fujimoto, the first Rohingya-language feature, following two siblings from a Bangladesh refugee camp toward Malaysia; it won the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize at Venice 2025.", "snippet": "Lost Land (LOST LAND／ロストランド, Hara Watan) is a 2025 drama by Japanese director Akio Fujimoto, the first Rohingya-language feature, following two siblings from a Bangladesh refugee camp toward Malaysia; it won the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize at Venice 2025.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2025.coming-of-age-and-family-drama-films", "markdown": "# Lost Land\n\n**Lost Land** (Japanese title: LOST LAND／ロストランド; also known as *Hara Watan*) is a 2025 drama film directed, written, and edited by the Japanese filmmaker Akio Fujimoto, and the first-ever Rohingya-language fiction feature[1](https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/lost-land) • [2](https://miff.com.au/program/film/lost-land). It follows two young Rohingya siblings, Somira and her brother Shafi, who leave a refugee camp in Bangladesh on a perilous journey to reach relatives in Malaysia[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_land_2025). The film premiered in the Orizzonti competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2025, where it won the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37660506/releaseinfo/) • [5](https://trigon-film.org/en/films/lost-land/).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director, writer, editor | Akio Fujimoto[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html) |\n| Language | Rohingya; the first-ever Rohingya-language fiction feature[1](https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/lost-land) |\n| Runtime and countries | 99 minutes; Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html) |\n| World premiere | Venice Film Festival, Orizzonti competition, September 1, 2025[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37660506/releaseinfo/) |\n| Principal award | Orizzonti Special Jury Prize, Venice 2025[5](https://trigon-film.org/en/films/lost-land/) |\n| Cast | Shomira Rias Uddin and Muhammad Shofik Rias Uddin, non-professional actors from the Rohingya community[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html) • [7](https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/lost-land/) |\n| Producer | Kazutaka Watanabe[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nHoping to be reunited with their family, who are scattered, four-year-old Shafi and nine-year-old Somira, his sister, depart from a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh and set out on a dangerous voyage toward Malaysia.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_land_2025) According to the Hiroshima International Film Festival synopsis, the siblings, unable to obtain passports, are led by smugglers onto a fishing boat, and face the forces of nature and the threat of human trafficking as they press on[8](https://hiff.jp/en/program/lost-land/). The Sydney Film Festival adds that what begins as a journey by boat becomes far scarier when the children are separated from their group and left to navigate unfamiliar terrain with only each other to rely on[7](https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/lost-land/). According to the FCCJ's Film Committee, the film faces the harsh truths of being stateless, such as trafficking in humans, compulsory displacement, and the insecure life of a group refused citizenship, all while keeping the delicate marvel of how a child sees the world[1](https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/lost-land).\n\n## Production and method\n\n**Docudrama approach.** Although made as a docudrama and not a documentary, the film blends acted scenes and real life in a natural way, basing its narrative on what happened to over 200 Rohingya who took part in making it[1](https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/lost-land). It was made with a largely non-professional cast, and the two lead actors are themselves from the Rohingya community[7](https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/lost-land/) • [6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html). Fujimoto wrote the script, and the resulting film feels like an observational documentary: most dialogue was improvised, and there is neither narration nor music. Yoshio Kitagawa, the cinematographer, who also worked on *Evil Does Not Exist*, shoots with a handheld camera, lending a you-are-there quality, most notably during the nighttime sequences[9](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/04/27/film/lost-land/). The score credit belongs to the Swiss cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html).\n\nThe production is a co-production among E.x.N K.K., Dongyu, KinemaTowards, Panorama Films, Elom Initiatives, Cinemata, Cineric Creative, and Scarlet Visions, with E.x.N handling planning and production[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html) • [8](https://hiff.jp/en/program/lost-land/). Beijing-based sales agent Rediance boarded the film for world sales ahead of its Venice premiere[10](https://www.screendaily.com/news/rohingya-language-venice-premiere-lost-land-sets-world-sales-with-rediance/5207958.article).\n\n## Background and the director\n\n**Akio Fujimoto** (藤元明緒) is a Japanese filmmaker born in Osaka in 1988 who trained in film at the city's Visual Arts Academy[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html). His debut feature, *Passage of Life* (2017), a Japan-Myanmar co-production about a Burmese family in Japan, won the Best Feature and Spirit of Asia Best Director awards in the Asian Future section of the Tokyo International Film Festival, and his second feature, *Along the Sea* (2020), about Vietnamese workers in Japan, was presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival[6](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html). All three of his features center on Southeast Asian protagonists and migration[9](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/04/27/film/lost-land/).\n\nFujimoto began the *Lost Land* project in 2023[11](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/c030327/). In an interview with Nippon.com he connected the film to his own conscience: he recalled that when the Rohingya were being slaughtered in 2017 he had said nothing, and that he felt he had to break out of his own double standards before making the film[11](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/c030327/).\n\nThe film's subject has a documented real-world basis. Despite having lived in Myanmar for generations, more than a million Rohingya were compelled to escape the country, the majority seeking refuge in nearby Bangladesh, following a 2017 crackdown by the nation's military leadership.[9](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/04/27/film/lost-land/) The Rohingya are often considered the world's most persecuted ethnic group[1](https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/lost-land).\n\n## Release and reception\n\nAfter the Venice premiere, the film screened at festivals including the Tokyo International Film Festival (Nippon Cinema Now section, October 30, 2025), the Bangkok International Film Festival, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37660506/releaseinfo/) • [12](https://jfdb.jp/title/10332). On December 18, 2025, Japanese distributor Kino Films announced that the film had won the top award at the 5th Red Sea International Film Festival and had by then accumulated 10 awards at international festivals[13](https://kinofilms.jp/lost-land/). In addition to the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize, the Japanese Film Database records a NETPAC special commendation for Best Asian Film and the Bisato d'Oro (Golden Eel) Award for Best Director at Venice 2025[12](https://jfdb.jp/title/10332).\n\nCritics responded warmly. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a Tomatometer of 7 reviews, with reviewers including Kambole Campbell of IndieWire (B+), who wrote that the film's tragedies come from compassion rather than cynicism, and Amber Wilkinson of Eye for Film (4.5/5), who praised the child protagonists for conveying the uncertainty felt by youngsters forced into dangerous odysseys[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_land_2025). Mark Schilling of The Japan Times compared it to *Slumdog Millionaire* but called *Lost Land* a quieter, gentler film[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_land_2025). Boyd van Hoeij of Screen International, while positive on the film's intentions, noted that Fujimoto struggles at points to find a consistent tone that accommodates the harsh realities while keeping his young protagonists out of direct harm's way[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_land_2025).\n\nThe film received its Japanese theatrical release on April 24, 2026, distributed by Kino Films[14](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=101816).\n\n## Not to be confused with\n\n*Lost Land* (2025) shares its release year with *In the Lost Lands*, a fantasy action film directed by [Paul W. S. Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-w-s-anderson) and starring [Milla Jovovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/milla-jovovich) and [Dave Bautista](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-bautista), adapted from a George R. R. Martin short story[15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_lost_lands). The two films are unrelated.\n\n## References\n\n1. [Lost Land, FCCJ Number 1 Shimbun (Karen Severns, Film Committee)](https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/lost-land)\n2. [Lost Land, Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 program](https://miff.com.au/program/film/lost-land)\n3. [Lost Land (2025), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_land_2025)\n4. [Lost Land (2025) release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37660506/releaseinfo/)\n5. [Lost Land, trigon-film](https://trigon-film.org/en/films/lost-land/)\n6. [Lost Land, Rediance](https://www.rediancefilms.com/film.php-78.html)\n7. [Lost Land, Sydney Film Festival](https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/lost-land/)\n8. [LOST LAND, Hiroshima International Film Festival 2026 program](https://hiff.jp/en/program/lost-land/)\n9. ['Lost Land': A Rohingya odyssey viewed with startling immediacy, The Japan Times (Mark Schilling, April 27, 2026)](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/04/27/film/lost-land/)\n10. [First-ever Rohingya-language film 'Lost Land' sets world sales with Rediance ahead of Venice premiere, Screen Daily (Silvia Wong, August 19, 2025)](https://www.screendaily.com/news/rohingya-language-venice-premiere-lost-land-sets-world-sales-with-rediance/5207958.article)\n11. [Fujimoto Akio's \"Lost Land\": A Story of Rohingya Child Refugees on a Dangerous Journey, Nippon.com](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/c030327/)\n12. [JFDB - LOST LAND／ロストランド, Japan Film Database](https://jfdb.jp/title/10332)\n13. [LOST LAND／ロストランド, Kino Films official site](https://kinofilms.jp/lost-land/)\n14. [LOST LAND／ロストランド, Kinenote](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=101816)\n15. [In the Lost Lands, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_lost_lands)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2025 › Coming-of-age and family drama films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Lost Land\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Lost Land](https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land](https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Lost Land\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-land. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Lost Land is a 2025 drama by Japanese director Akio Fujimoto, the first Rohingya-language feature, following two siblings from a Bangladesh refugee camp toward Malaysia; it won the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize at Venice 2025." }