FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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CHICAGO FILM THE FIRST BREATH OF TENGAN REI
PREMIERES AT GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER, 164 N. STATE ST., CHICAGO
FRIDAY, NOV. 21, 8:15 p.m, SATURDAY, NOV. 22, 8 p.m, MONDAY, NOV. 24,  7:45 p.m.
Antioch College Alumni Chapter Hosts Reception before Nov. 22 Screening

The emotional international drama The First Breath of Tengan Rei, written and directed by Chicago husband/wife filmmaking team Junko Kajino and Ed M. Koziarski, has its Chicago premiere in a three-night run Nov. 21, 22 and 24 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.  The First Breath of Tengan Rei screens Friday, Nov. 21 at 8:15 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 24 at 7:45 p.m.

Kajino, a native of Nagano, Japan, and Koziarski, from Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, met on a film set at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1997 when Koziarski was completing his senior film there when Kajino moved to town to start her film career.  Together they have helped produce dozens of independent films, all the while battling to make their own feature film.  They finally got their chance when Junko was inspired by a tragic true story that she felt a special responsibility and opportunity to tell, as a Japanese woman living in the U.S.

In The First Breath of Tengan Rei, Japanese star Erika (of Kore-Eda’s renowned After Life) plays Rei, a young Okinawan woman who kidnaps Paris, the teenage son of a U.S. Marine convicted of raping her when she was a girl.  While Rei holds Paris captive, the two are drawn together despite the scars of the past, as they prepare for a final confrontation with Paris’s father, Nelson.

Kajino and Koziarski filmed The First Breath of Tengan Rei in Chicago and Okinawa with a Japanese and Chicago cast and crew, overcoming language and cultural barriers and shooting through a typhoon in a former leper colony off the Okinawa coast.  North Carolina newcomer Katori Eason plays Paris.  Chicago stage veteran Sean Nix, mostly recently seen in Timeline Theatre Company’s production of Gore Vidal’s Weekend, portrays Nelson.  Nelson’s partner in crime, Carter, is portrayed by local film and TV actor Ric Arthur, who himself served in the Marines in Okinawa.  Mark Messing, leader of acclaimed local band Mucca Pazza, designed the sound for the film, and composed the score, featuring music by cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and Califone guitarist Jim Becker.

Before the Saturday Nov. 22 screening, the Chicago Alumni Chapter of Antioch College hosts a benefit reception for the college, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Film Center’s Gallery/Café.  A historic leader in progressive, experiential education, operations of Antioch College were suspended by Antioch University last summer.  College alumni are negotiating and raising funds to reopen the college as an independent institution next year and restore its vital place in the educational landscape.

$9 general admission tickets for the screenings can be purchased from the Film Center box office or from Ticketmaster at 312.575.8000 or www.ticketmaster.com.   There is no charge for the Nov. 22 reception. After-parties will follow each night, with locations to be announced at each screening.

Download press kit and stills at www.tenganrei.com/media.html.  Screeners available on request.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Junko Kajino
312.850.1247
kajinoj

Ed M. Koziarski
773.910.1444