#SSD25 > June 23-26, 2025
Mapping the future with Shin Yasuda
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Mapping the Future
Mapping the future with Shin Yasuda
Enjoy a series of interviews with the people who support us every year. Discover their expectations, highlights, and their vision for the future of the documentary industry. Today, Shin Yasuda, Senior Producer at NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), shared his thoughts with us.
Shin Yasuda, Senior Producer at NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
How do you map the future of documentary in your company?
NHK has always supported and will continue to support documentary storytelling, because we think it is an integral part of public service. Over the years, we have witnessed how documentaries can engage, inspire, spark conversations and ultimately foster empathy among the viewers. As our societies become increasingly fragmented and isolated as a result of « personalized » information, documentaries can play an important role in not just providing diverse perspectives, but also in illustrating commonalities between us. By facilitating international co-productions, we hope to bring unique stories from Japan to the world, and also find stories originating from various parts of the world that would resonate with our audience in Japan.
How might Sunny Side of the Doc have helped to change the course of your career or your professional achievements?
I first attended the Sunny Side of the Doc more than 10 years ago. It was my first foray into the world of international co-productions, and since then, Sunny Side has helped me build relationships with broadcasters, production companies, and independent filmmakers from around the world. As a producer representing the public media in Japan, connecting with like-minded people serving public media in other regions and learning about their struggles and triumphs has been a huge source of inspiration and wisdom. Furthermore, collaborating with independent filmmakers and creative talent has enriched by experience of the visual media and deepened my understanding of the art of documentary storytelling. My journey of learning continues.
What do you see as the next developments and big trends in the documentary world?
We are seeing more documentary projects expanding into virtual-reality and immersive space. In collaboration with our commercial affiliate NHK Enterprises, we have had successes in transforming our 8K documentaries into immersive content for dome theaters, and we are now in the process of exploring the possibilities of VR in some of the co-production projects with our international partners. One of NHK’s mission is to enrich the lives of our viewers by utilizing the visual resources, so we are keeping an eye on the development of new technology and how it could impact our lives.
As we celebrate our anniversary, what would you like to wish Sunny Side of the Doc for the next 35 years?
I hope that Sunny Side of the Doc will continue to be a place of support and cameraderie for people with diverse backgrounds who believe that good storytelling can contribute to buidling peace.