Tokyo Idols

Directed By Kyoko Miyake

Girl bands and their pop music permeate every moment of Japanese life. Following an aspiring pop singer and her fans, Tokyo Idols explores a cultural phenomenon driven by an obsession with young female sexuality, and the growing disconnect between men and women in hyper-modern societies

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
This documentary follows J-Pop idol Rio and her predominately middle-aged fans, and their seemingly transactional interactions.
Born and bred in Japan, Kyoko originally moved to Britain to research History of Witchcraft at Oxford University, having read History at Tokyo University. Kyoko’s latest documentary film, Brakeless, an international coproduction with five countries, won the prestigious Peabody Award 2014 after airing to great acclaim on BBC and PBS. Her first documentary film, My Atomic Aunt was internationally coproduced by seven broadcasters including BBC, NHK and WDR and, supported by numerous grants such as Sundance. It has been screened at festivals across the world, winning Gold Plaque at Chicago International Film Festival. Her third documentary, Tokyo Idols, is a coproduction with eight broadcasters including BBC, WDR and Arte and is in postproduction. Several short documentaries Kyoko directed have been shown at festivals internationally including Berlin, London, Sydney and SilverDocs. Hackney Lullabies won the Berlin Today Award 2011 at Berlinale. Her first fiction project, Femme Fatale, has been selected for Cannes Film Festival’s Cinefondation/Atelier section in 2016. Her latest documentary film, Tokyo Idols, premieres at 2017 Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition.