The UK–Canada produced Tokyo Idols has premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival as an official selection in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, CTV News reported on 26 January.
Made by writer-director Kyoko Miyake, the film documents the industry surrounding Japan’s female J-pop idols, singers that are the recipients of intense attention from fans who are predominantly older and male. The sector is worth $1bn annually.
Miyake said that having financing from outside Japan allowed her to be “quite free of censorship”.