TRUE OTAKU
85 minutes/US/English / Feature Documentary/Fandom
Director: Jeff Clark
trueotaku.com
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
ABOUT THE FILM
What is an otaku? Generally speaking, an otaku is a fan of Japanese popular culture: anime, manga, video games, music, and fashion.
TRUE OTAKU: The Documentary is a feature film by otaku, for otaku, about otaku. The documentary focuses on otaku fandom in the greater Washington DC and Baltimore metropolitan region. TRUE OTAKU begins with an overview of otaku fandom set against the backdrop of Otakon 2010. Otakon is one of the largest conventions in the United States celebrating Japanese popular culture. At Otakon, TRUE OTAKU host Nicole Boyd explores some of the many facets of otaku fandom. TRUE OTAKU then goes in-depth, exploring and documenting the otaku community in greater detail. Nicole Boyd profiles an award-winning cosplayer, Iris Venturino, known online as Dustbunny. Nicole follows Dustbunny through the costume creation process as she readies to compete in Anime USA's Hall Costume Contest. Next, TRUE OTAKU profiles Lauren Orsini, a blogger and journalist who writes otakujournalist.com. TRUE OTAKU also visits the DC Anime Club, an organization established to introduce and educate people in the Washington DC area about East Asian culture. Finally, the film follows Dustbunny through the Hall Costume Contest judging process, providing insight into the motivations, creative process, and challenges at the heart of cosplay. Source: filmmaker
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Jeff Clark is an independent documentary filmmaker from the Washington DC metropolitan area. From a young age, Jeff was drawn to the arts; studying drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and writing. He attended college at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, majoring in film production and creative writing. It was there that Jeff’s interest in documentary filmmaking was born while working on his short film Still-life Watercolor. In 1999, Jeff was hired by Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virginia to create educational television programming. Jeff continues to work for the Fairfax school district as a producer and director. He has numerous projects, both short-form and full-length film and video works, to his credit. He was co-producer on the regional Emmy award-winning television series Flight School in 2007. In 2009, Jeff resumed independent film work, traveling to Lebanon to document the work of the non-profit organization Heart for Lebanon. His latest project, True Otaku, was born out of an affinity for Japanese popular culture and otaku fandom. Jeff’s production company, Cinema Show Films, is named after a festival-winning short video he created in 1989. Source: filmmaker
CAST:
Hosted by Nicole Boyd.