A half-hour documentary I produced/directed and shot in 2019 for Channel 4's award-winning and long running current affairs series, Unreported World. Reporter Marcel Theroux and I travelled to Japan to meet junior idols - schoolgirls who are trying to make it as pop stars, performing in front of audiences who are older and mostly male. Is it a quirk of Japanese culture or something more sinister? In the film we meet 11-year-old Yune and her family as she broadcasts live from her home to her fans, and performs with other idols at live shows. We also meet some of her fans, many of whom are middle-aged men. The film has received more than 2.5 million views (and counting) on YouTube since August 2020.
Directed and filmed by Liam Nolan
Reporter: Marcel Theroux
Editor: Raphael Pereira
Series Editor: Sue Turton
Executive Producer: Eamonn Mathews
Quicksilver Media Ltd for Channel 4, 2019
A warning - this documentary, filmed before coronavirus deals with adult themes.