THE CONTESTANT

Hulu Announces Date for Clair Titley Doc Following the Shocking Journey of Aspiring Japanese Comedian Who Unwittingly Became a Reality TV Star

Streaming On Hulu May 2

United Kingdom | 2023 | 90m | English, Japanese

Synopsis: This true story of a Japanese reality TV star left naked in a room for more than a year, tasked with filling out magazine sweepstakes to earn food and clothing, prompts innumerable questions about our culture of oversharing.

Before the onslaught of reality television in the West, there was an ominous harbinger in Japan of what was to come in our oversharing-obsessed culture. The Contestant traces the experience of aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, who unwittingly became an extreme case study.

In 1998, Nasubi thought he was attending an audition when a successful Japanese TV producer, Toshio Tsuchiya, enlisted him to take part in a challenge. Tsuchiya led Nasubi into a room, ordered him to strip naked and left him with a stack of magazines. Nasubi’s task was to fill out contest coupons in order to win what he needed to survive — food, clothing, appliances, etc. — until he reached the prize goal of one million yen.

Although Nasubi could have left at any time, he stayed for months with a fierce determination to complete his mission. He was cut off from all contact with his family and the world except for occasional interactions with Tsuchiya.

What Nasubi didn’t realize was that his experiences were being broadcast to over 15 million people in a TV show called Denpa Shonen: A Life in Prizes. Without his knowledge or consent, Nasubi became the most famous television personality in Japan.

While parts of Nasubi’s infamy have been recounted before on YouTube and This American Life, director Clair Titley and producer Megumi Inman bring a revelatory depth of insight by interviewing Nasubi, Tsuchiya, and others close to them. The filmmakers explore further twists in Nasubi’s life after Denpa Shonen to deliver the most WTF story in this year’s documentary selection.
 

Director: Clair Titley
Cast: Tomoaki Hamatsu “Nasubi” and Toshio Tsuchiya
Executive Producer: Clair Titley
Producer: Megumi Inman, Andee Ryder, and Ian Bonhôte
Cinematographer: Mikul Eriksson
Editor: Rachel Meyrick and Katie Bryer
 

ABOUT CLAIR TITLEY
British director Clair Titley grew up in South and Southeast Asia, watching Asia’s answer to MTV and visiting back-alley video shops to rent pirated copies of the latest western movies. Her work taps into the quietly surreal moments of life, while often being a trojan horse for comment on the world around us. Themes of identity and self-discovery run through her films – what it means to be young, old or even just human.

Clair cut her teeth making oral history films for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK, quickly gained a reputation as a filmmaker with a talent for interviewing and for unearthing untold angles. As well as a BAFTA nomination, she has been nominated for the Royal Television Society award for ‘Outstanding New Director’. She has recently collaborated with producers Misfits Entertainment to develop, write and direct her first feature-length documentary, The Contestant. The film is one of just a dozen inaugural feature docs from leading independent studio MRC.