TOKYO/YEREVAN — This year filmmaker Jivan Avetisyan’s upcoming mini-series The Stateless Diplomat was officially selected to participate in the Tokyo Film Commission’s “Tokyo Location Fam Tour”, an international initiative designed to introduce filmmakers to Tokyo’s filming opportunities and encourage future co-productions in Japan and this film is shaping up to become the first Armenian-Japanese co-production in the making – a historic cultural bridge between Japan and Armenia.
The program took place between February 23–27 and brought together 16 filmmakers from around the world, including director Avetisyan and producer Adrineh Mirzayan, for an intensive location scouting trip and networking program across Tokyo and surrounding areas.
“The Stateless Diplomat” tells the remarkable story of Diana Apcar, Armenia’s first Honorary Consul who represented her nation in Japan long before the world was ready to accept women in leadership positions. It is currently in development and is shaping up to become the first Armenian-Japanese co-production, building a unique cultural bridge between the two countries.
During the visit, Avetisyan and Mirzayan conducted extensive location scouting in Tokyo and Yokohama, where Apcar lived. As part of the visit, the team also paid tribute at Apcar’s gravesite in Yokohama, connecting the project to the historical places where her life and legacy unfolded.
“Many years of hard work and dedication to our vision of bringing Armenian stories to the big screen have brought us here to Japan. This is more than a project — it is history coming full circle,” said Avetisyan.
“The Stateless Diplomat” is a six-episode drama inspired by the life of Apcar, who rescued 1000 Armenian Genocide survivors seeking asylum in Japan on their way to the U.S.
