Masayoshi Mikage and Saori Nakada, co-representatives of the Dream Island Association, will discuss behind-the-scene stories and the production process of the iconic “dream sequence” created in collaboration with Wenders.  They will also share personal memories, the experience of working on this project as a family, and their thoughts on the remastering journey.

This is a rare opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from a member of the original production team!  The event also include time for networking and welcomes both Wenders fans and all film lovers.

Event date

Friday, April 25, 2025, at 8PM-9:30PM (JST)
Friday, May 9, 2025, at 8PM-9:30PM (JST)

Location

Admission

Guests

You might ask – why is Wenders’ Dream Island being digitally remastered in Japan now?

The answer lies in a deeper, more personal story.

This project is led by Saori Nakada, daughter of the late Yoshiya Nakada, the film’s director of photography, along with Masayoshi Mikage, associate producer of Until The End of The World.

At the time of filming, Saori was only two years old. 

Yet from Dream Island became a part of her family’s everyday life.  The DVD played repeatedly at home, and her two older brothers both appeared in the film.

On the wall of their home hung a photograph of the Nakada family with Wim Wenders and lead actor Soo Duk Lee.  The stories her father often told about Wenders felt like fragments of memory – preserved in the images of the film itself.
That was the seed of the decision to bring the film back to life.

It began with “the dream scene” in Perfect Days.

The Reunion Brought by Dream Island

Saori no longer had the DVD, and there was no way to rewatch Dream Island.  Then she remembered Masayoshi Mikage – the name often mentioned by her father before his passing.

Around that same time, the director’s cut of Until The End of The World (a five-hour version) was being screened at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.  When she learned that Mikage would appear as a guest at the event, she thought: I have to be there.

At the venue, Mikage found himself face-to-face with a woman who looked strikingly familiar – so much like his old friend, Yoshiya Nakada.  He was stunned.  When Saori said, “I want to see Dream Island – the film my father shot – once again,” it felt as though he had been unconsciously waiting for that very moment.

As it turned out, Mikage had recently received a message from Wenders himself: “If you still have the footage of Dream Island, could you send it to me?”

Two separate wishes had quietly aligned, as if drawn together by fate.  Together, they began to unearth the memories of Dream Island.