“And really, the guys from the big cities are the ones that look really unusual and out of place there.”
Kojima singled out a scene in The Velvet Queen as the most revealing: two men camp in extreme cold and suddenly children appear playing as if nothing — families who live in the Tibetan mountains. He said you see that and understand that people can live there, and that the ones who look strange and out of place are the guys from the big city. The children are more interested in the photographer’s mobile, a rarity there, than in the leopards; the protagonists complain about Paris, about parks disappearing and about a lack of respect for nature, while in Tibet that environment is normal and people coexist with it. He praised the intelligence of the film’s approach, noting it is not just about protecting the environment but shows a family that coexists with nature, and that the only people who do not understand are the city people.
“And then suddenly these children appear out of nowhere. […] It's not just about, let's protect the environment, but they also show that there is a family that coexists with nature. […] The only people who don't understand are the city people.”