Ryota Kotani | Tutor and Senior Producer, NHK Enterprises | Japan | UK

Ryota Kotani has worked with the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) as director of documentaries and news operations, since 1986. His works include Urgent Report After Death of Rajiv Gandhi (1991) and the live message show Symphony for the Earth – Satellite Live with Seiji Ozawa and World Musicians (1995). He directed the documentary European Picnic Plan Breaking Against Iron Curtain in 1993.

Between 1997 and 1999 he served as an NHK correspondent for the Hong Kong Office. Since 1999 he worked as a documentary producer for NHK's unique satellite channel cultivating High Definition Documentaries like the travelogue World Strollers (2005-2007) and Cats! (2012-2014), also as an international co-producer of Why Democracy (2007), Indian Short film series (2007 and 2008), Queen and I (2008) and The KERIYA (2016) with NEO and BTV.

He commissioned several productions, from which various films such as Chronicle of Amnesiac (2007) by Anirban Datta, Char… The No-Man’s Island (2012) by Sourav Sarangi, Spiral Stairs by Ji Tang (2009) and Japan; Love & Hate by Sean McAlister (2009) were screened at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and won awards.

Currently, he serves as a producer at NHK Enterprises mainly for NHK 4K and 8K channels.