Land of Anne star of new movie filmed on P.E.I., says producer

Looking for Anne, a movie set to hit hundreds of big screens in Japan in October, shines a larger spotlight on the land of Anne than on the pigtailed heroine herself, says the executive producer.
"Anne is present but it is contemporary P.E.I. is what it is all about,'' said Claude Gagnon.
He says the $2.3-million Canadian-Japanese co-production, which was filmed "all over'' P.E.I., will offer movie goers a tempting smorgasbord of enticing venues.
"The Island is absolutely gorgeous … with this movie, we were selling P.E.I. like crazy,'' he said.
The film is co-written by Gagnon's wife, Yuri Yoshimura, and Takako Miyahira, who has worked as an editor and assistant to Gagnon for several years.
Yoshimura, who is responsible for bringing the Anne of Green Gables musical to Japan 11 years ago, has been longing to do a movie about Montgomery's spirited literary gem of a character.
The contemporary tale follows the journey of Anne Lee, a young Japanese girl who visits P.E.I. to find her grandmother's first love, a Canadian soldier. In 1946, the soldier gave her grandmother a copy of Anne and the book changed her life, giving her the strength to go on.
As Lee's quest goes along, she discovers why Anne of Green Gables changed her grandmother's life and that of many other Japanese women.
Gagnon, who has lived in Japan for a decade, said the country's fascination for Anne dates back to 1952 when the Japanese translation was published.
"We wanted to make an original story and we think we succeeded … I think it's a very feel-good movie,'' he said.
Gagnon said test screenings in Japan garnered rave reviews with thumbs up coming from 95 per cent of those the audiences.
A sneak preview last week in P.E.I. for some of the movie's investors also earned a "really positive'' response, he said.
The P.E.I. government has invested about $218,000 in the movie and the province of Quebec has provided $550,000 in funding.
The film crew was a mix of Quebecers, Japanese and local technicians.
Gagnon said he was pleasantly surprised with the strong talent pool in P.E.I. that was drawn from to fill some of the movie's secondary roles.
He hopes to launch the world premiere in Charlottetown on Oct. 10 or 11 with the movie opening in Japan later that month in 10 key cities before eventually playing in more than 100 cities in Japan.
Gagnon said he would "not be surprised'' if the movie goes on to play in theatres in 40 to 45 countries.