The relatives of victims of North Korea's abductions expressed their joy Monday after a U.S. film on Megumi Yokota has won the best documentary award at the U.S. Slamdance Film Festival in Utah.
"I'm really happy the film won the prize," Sakie Yokota, the 69-year-old mother of Megumi, told a news conference in Tokyo. "I want every country in the world to know about people like us and the abductions."
Her husband, Shigeru, 73, who has just been discharged from a hospital after about 50 days for treatment for a serious illness, was also delighted by the news, she said.
The 85-minute film, "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story," directed by Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim, won the Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The crew filmed the couple and others on numerous occasions between June 1992 and last May to depict their lives after their daughter was abducted in 1977 at age 13.
"We exposed every part of our lives and it was embarrassing, but we thought we had to let people know what kind of lives we have led" following the abduction, Yokota said. "People from other countries were outraged over the issue and they have helped us. I wonder why Japan does not feel the same way."
Films chosen at the festival will be given special screenings in New York, Los Angeles and other locations.