Purely Personal Documentaries

Purely Personal Documentaries: Real Japan- Finding Independence at 38
Hiroaki Sato
2014 / Japan / 29min


Summary

38-year-old Hiroaki Sato is still living with- and off-his aging parents. He graduated from a prestigious university but has never had a steady job. He sometimes works part-time but spends most of his time helping friends produce a magazine about documentaries. When Hiroaki’s father gets laid off, with only a modest pension to live on, they order him to move out. Will he be able to find a job and a place to live? How can he become independent?

Director

Hiroaki Sato fell in love with documentary films while he was studying at university. He looked for a way into the industry while working part-time after graduation. He launched a freelance career in 2006 when he served as an assistant director on a commercial television program that took a behind-the-scenes look at Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to North Korea. Sato made his directorial debut with an NHK “Nippon Real” documentary in which he turned the camera on his own struggle to build an independent life at the age of 38. As well as working in program production, Sato helps to operate the documentary-information website neoneo web.