KUALA LUMPUR - A film, Imaginary Line, depicting the realities of Japan’s immigration detention and provisional release system, based on in-depth reporting, will be released in Japan on January 17.

The film follows two close friends, Mohamed Yume, who lacks legal residency despite being born and raised in Japan, and Yamamoto Fumiko. 

After Yume is detained for traveling outside her registered area without permission, she is held in an immigration detention center, where she gradually loses hope, while Fumiko grows angry at the system's injustice.

The film was directed by Kento Sakamoto and created as his graduation project at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, Sakamoto became interested in issues surrounding Japan’s immigration system after learning about the death of Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died while being detained at the Nagoya Immigration Bureau on March 6, 2021.

Sandamali came to Japan in 2017 as an international student, but later lost her residency status after she was unable to continue her studies. 

In August 2020, she was detained at the Nagoya Immigration Bureau for overstaying her visa. Despite repeatedly complaining of severe health problems, including extreme weakness and vomiting, she did not receive adequate medical treatment and died in detention on March 6, 2021.

Her family filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, and surveillance footage released later showed her suffering and revealed inappropriate responses by immigration officials. 

The case has become a symbol of concerns over the closed nature of Japan’s immigration system and its handling of human rights, continuing to influence debates over detention practices and medical care.

The title Imaginary Line refers to a technical term in filmmaking that describes an ‘imaginary line’ connecting two people facing each other. 

By keeping the camera on one side of this line, filmmakers maintain consistency in the subjects’ eye lines and their relative positions. 

In this film, however, the concept also serves as a metaphor for the “invisible lines” that divide people in society.

Amid growing scrutiny of Japan’s immigration policies, the film is expected to prompt audiences to reflect on the realities faced by those living on the margins of the system.