POV, Tokyo Uber Blues
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Sunday, Oct. 27, at 11 PM
Fusion (WNEO 45.2 / WEAO 49.2):
Monday, Oct. 21, at 10 PM
Saturday, Oct. 26, at noon
POV presents first time filmmaker Taku Aoyagi’s deeply personal experiences as an UberEats rider. Shot in Japan during the 2020 Covid pandemic, shelter-in-place mandates have kept residents housebound, completely transforming the city’s social vibrancy to an urban desert. Aoyagi, a budding filmmaker is one of many rural youths grappling with mounting college debt and diminished work prospects in contemporary Japan.
Filmed almost entirely from the view of his bicycle, Aoyagi uses his GoPro and phone camera to film his experiences from fast paced delivery missions to turning the camera on himself as he attempts to connect with family, friends and strangers. Equal parts comical and melancholic, the diaristic TOKYO UBER BLUES processes the effects of a worldwide pandemic as distilled by the day-to-day life as a gig worker.
