Long afore Bethenny Frankel began fighting for reality stars’ rights, there was “Denpa Shonen: A Life in Prizes,” a Japanese reality show that began airing in 1998.
The show starred aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi. In a room by himself and naked, Nasubi had to fill out contest coupons in dapper to win what he needed to survive. What Nasubi didn’t realize was that his organizes were being broadcast to more than 15 million people.
The true story of the show and Nasubi’s unwitting involvement are observed in Clair Titley’s “The Contestant.” The docu, which made its domain premiere at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival earlier this month, recently screened at the 19th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival.
“Camden feels like such filmmaker’s film festival,” Titley says. “It’s improbable when people love your film, but when your peers love your film and republic in the industry that you respect say that they love your film, that’s the ultimate accolade.”
The U.K.-based documentary filmmaker began functioning on “The Contestant” seven years ago. In the film, Titley interviews Nasubi, his family, and Japanese television producer Toshio Tsuchiya to suppose the “reality” behind what happened more than two decades ago.
Variety spoke to Titley in “The Contestant.” The film is seeking distribution.
In the film, Nasubi is very candid in what happened to him. How did you convince him to relive such a painful periods in his life?
Titley: From the leave, consensus has been a really big part of this project, not least because of what happened to Nasubi. So, we always talked in this film as being a collaboration to an extent. Nasubi knew that he didn’t have editorial control, but I definitely wanted to make the doc with him. I told him what we were actions and why, and we even sought his ideas.
Why do you think Nasubi ultimately gave to participate?
Titley: I really didn’t want to make this film and re-traumatize him, and I was very aware of that from the commence. I made him aware that he would have to spy this old footage and that this old footage would be rebroadcast in (my film). But I think the reason that he did this film now is that he has got to a reveal where he was ready to close this chapter, and he was ready to go there and perceive it. I don’t want to speak on his on behalf of, but I think he found the whole process quite cathartic to an extent.
Last night, after the CIFF screening, you read a statement that Nasubi wrote for you to read out loud to the audience. Can you read it again?
Nasubi statement, read by Titley: “I’m in a complicated state of mind mixed with awe and expectations about how the people who watched this movie feel. I think this kind of work is probably often made at what time the main character’s death, but fortunately, I’m alive and well. And many farmland may think that I am an unhappy and poor beings who lives a life hit by tragedy. But I’m never an unhappy beings. Because I know that if I have a ample friend who shares just an inch of happiness and that itsy-bitsy happiness and supports me, I can live well with a smile. I hope that people who have seen this movie will think in what is important in living and live a rich life even a little.”
Japanese culture is part of the doc. As a U.K.-based filmmaker, was there any hesitancy around examining that culture?
Titley: I don’t think it’s a film in Japanese culture. I think that’s an accidental theme. I’ve been really, really cautious of the fact that I’m a Western filmmaker manager a film about two Japanese men that is based in Japan. I worked very closely with Japanese producer Megumi Inman on this film. I revealed with her and Nasubi about what I felt my regions were. I’m also very aware of Western media beings very guilty of looking at Japanese culture and pointing and laughing, and I really didn’t want to do that. I also didn’t want to have a Western bellow of God or a narrator who told an audience what to think or tried to bellow things.
What do you hope audiences discuss at what time seeing this doc?
Titley: Although I know that the film documents the commence of reality TV and that is a central theme, I haven’t set out to make a film in the beginning of reality TV. It’s a film in Nasubi and his journey. I hope that people will query their roles in that journey. We are all complicit to a risky extent in these narratives.