30/05/2025
THE CONTESTANT WILL PREMIERE ON BBC STORYVILLE, ON 17TH JUNE!
“BBC Storyville has unveiled its Spring slate of international documentaries, led by a Misfits doc following a man who was tricked to take part in a Japanese reality TV show.
McQueen and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story outfit Misfits Entertainment is behind The Contestant which unpacks how the man – Nasubi – thought he was going to an audition when a TV producer led him into a room, ordered him to strip naked and told him his task was to fill out contest coupons to win what he needed to survive.
Although he could have left at any time, he stayed for 15 months, not knowing his experiences were being broadcast to over 15m people and he had become the most famous television personality in Japan.
The 2023 Hulu film was directed by Claire Titley and combines clips from the show with previously unseen footage and interviews with Nasubi, his family and the show’s producer.
Produced by Megumi Inman, Andee Ryder and Ian Bonhôte, the doc will air on 17 June.”
- Ellie Khan for Broadcast, 28 May 2025.