EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW
The Contestant charts the startling birth of reality television in Japan. With echoes of The Truman Show, aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, wins an audition resulting in him living alone in a room where his every move is filmed. He has no idea that 15 million people are watching his life unfold.
The film has recently received a BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) nomination 2024: Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
POST FILM DISCUSSION
Chair: Al Morrow
Al is a BAFTA nominated producer and as Head of Documentary at MetFilm Production has produced or executive produced over 20 feature docs. Her latest 4 part series is The Enfield Poltergeist directed by Jerry Rothwell for Apple TV+.
Her most recent documentary, Last Breath, has been remade as a fiction feature film starring Woody Harrelson which will be released in the US by Focus Features in 2025.
Clive Tulloh is an award-winning producer with a wealth of experience in Entertainment, Comedy, Factual and Reality television. In the latter genre, he made one of the first reality shows when he put Joanna Lumley on a desert island in 1994. His other successes have included Ross Kemp on Gangs, Ruby Wax Meets…, Joanna Lumley’s many travel shows, and most recently Philip Schofield’s Cast Away. He has just returned from Australia where he has been touring on stage with Joanna Lumley.
Sarah Ditum is a columnist, critic and feature writer for The Times and the author of Toxic: Women, Fame and the Noughties.