(Johnny Depp, Aileen Mioko Smith, © Lindsay Bellinger)

by LINDSAY R. BELLINGER

The press conference for Minamata was delayed more than thirty minutes, allowing journalists and photographers ample time to get pumped for Johnny Depp's much anticipated arrival. Depp not only took on the lead role of W. Eugene Smith but he also served as a producer, having backed the project from very early on according to director Andrew Levitas. The film is based on the book written by Aileen Mioko Smith and W. Eugene Smith. 

(Benoît Delhomme, Bill Nighy, Katherine Jenkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, Andrew Levitas, Johnny Depp, Aileen Mioko Smith, © Lindsay Bellinger)

A Japanese journalist helped to bring the focus back on the story at hand, rather than focusing on Depp as most of the journalists chose to do which is a shame because so many people work quite hard on films. Writer Aileen Mioko Smith got emotional sharing the experience of the Japanese people. 

(Benoît Delhomme, Bill Nighy, Katherine Jenkins, © Lindsay Bellinger)