World-Premiere at Berlinale ベルリン映画祭プレミア上映！

　２月１４日、ベルリン国際映画祭で「選挙」のワールドプレミア上映を行った。一般の観客を対象にした上映は今回が初めてなので、お客が入るのか、そしてどんな反応をされるのか少し不安だった。しかし蓋を開けてみれば大きな劇場がほぼ満席。お客さんの反応もすこぶるよく、上映中に笑い声やうなり声！が起きるたびに嬉しくなった。ただ、ウケると思っていた部分で全然反応がなかったり、逆に全く予想外のところで笑いが起こったりと、やはり観客というものは作り手の想像力を超えている。すでに何百回と観た「選挙」だが、まるで初めて観るかのようなスリルがあり、１２０分間があっという間に過ぎた。
　プレミア上映には日本のTBSが駆けつけ、僕や観客にもインタビューをしてくれた。その映像はお昼のニュースや筑紫哲也「ニュース２３」で放映されたそうで、知人、友人、知らない人から沢山のメールが舞い込んだ。やはりテレビの影響力ってすごい。映画はお客に観られて初めて完成するというのが僕の持論だから、とにもかくにも、「選挙」はやっとこれで産声をあげた。２月１４日が誕生日だなんて、僕の映画にしては奇妙にロマンチックである。

On February 14, CAMPAIGN finally had its world-premiere at Berlin Film Festival. This was the very first screening for public anywhere in the world, so I was a bit worried if people will come out. I was also nervous about the reactions from the audience. It turned out, however, the huge theater was almost packed, and the audience was very responsive. Every time people laughed, I became happier and happier. But they sometimes didn't respond to the scenes I thought was funny, and they responded to the ones I didn't really expect them to do so. This confirmed my belief that you could never predict the audience's reactions. I've seen CAMPAIGN for million times by now, but it was so thrilling that I felt as if I was watching it for the first time. 120 minutes felt like 12 seconds.

TBS, one of the major TV networks in Japan, covered the event and interviewed me and some viewers. As soon as the segment was aired nationally in Japan by TBS's most important news show "NEWS 23," I received many e-mails from friends and strangers. You could never underestimate the power of television! I believe that a movie completes only when it gets seen by the audience, so in this sense, Feb 14 is the real birthday of CAMPAIGN. Too bad it wasn't a romantic comedy!