The Lithuanian version of the Economist IQ publication has published an interview with Nobuki Sugihara, the son of the famous war-time Japanese diplomat who rescued Jews from the Holocaust in Kaunas against instructions from his ministry. The youngest Sugihara son was in Lithuania partly to attend the premiere of a new film about his father called Persona Non Grata: The Chiune Sugihara Story.

Ieva Rekštytė asked him “What impression did you come away with after the premiere at the movie theater?”

Nobuki Sugihara responded: “The film was beautiful visually, the actors were good, but in no way are all the historical facts in it true. You have to realize that this is entertainment, after all, and not a film intended to expand knowledge. For example, my father wasn’t so soft and sentimental as he’s made out to have been. Further, his supposed lover Irinia plays a major part in his life in the film, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of her. The impression is the film was created in a hurry, not even as a cinematic production, but as a television serial. I think the Japanese audience (to whom, most likely, the film is oriented) will like it, but it’s unlikely the international viewer will take an interest.

Full interview in Lithuanian here.