Meet Natsuko Sado | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natsuko Sado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natsuko, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
I have two words that remains always in my mind when I reflect about myself and the path I took to be who I am today.

No 1. “I’m still a dreamer” – Wheein
It is a lyric from a song called water color by my favourite Korean singer, Wheein. It has a message of finding self-confidence and self-love. Her music really lifted me up when I was fighting through my hard times, and this specific phrase really stuck to me. From the young age, I was a perfectionist and insecure person who always doubted about what I want, what other were thinking about me, and had a hard time overcoming mistakes. When I heard this one phrase for the first time, it felt like a weight is lifted off my shoulders. It felt like someone told me, it’s ok to make a mistake, it’s ok to keep going, it’s ok to be a dreamer because I can do anything if I want to be. There are so many song with lyric or telling that “I’m a dreamer,” and what I like about this lyric is that they included the word “still”. It tells me that not everything is perfect or doesn’t even have to be perfect, because it is just one part of a process of being who you are. I am still in a process of who I want to be, but I’m happy that I am who I am and I will be a dreamer who will overcome every single challenge that I will experience. In the end, that’s what opens up another path for me to find my confidence and love.

No 2. “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent Van Gogh
During my senior year, there was an immersive exhibition that I went with my friend about Van Gogh. That when I saw this quote and it immediately struck me because it felt like somebody was seeing the deepest part of me for the first time. It is exactly what it represent me and why I love filmmaking and creativity. Creativity gives you a magical power to connect with anyone around the world and shares a moment weather it is happy, sad, anger, anything. Art is I believe a collaboration that everyone shares and I love that about it. I love people. The whole reason I started creating was because it made people happy and I loved that I shared a moment with them. This quote represent my simple reason that lead me to pursuing a creative path. It is a powerful motivation and a great answer for myself to move one step forward everyday. Collaboration and loving people that I have been doing makes me a successful creative.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think I have stories and perspectives that is different from other people. I grew up living in Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. My family are not a typical Asian family and have different historical background. Not just my parents and grandparents, but each person in my family had different perspective that I learned and grew up with, which made a lot of people think me as an “old soul”.
Also I think I am more sensitive and spiritual than most of the people around me. I can sense sides that people doesn’t show, I can sense their emotion, I can see different side, I can see things that people usually don’t catch, and it weird but sometimes, I can feel when someone that I know is gone. I think that whats make myself a good collaborator. I love listening to them, I love connecting, I love getting to know them, I can catch an element that people missed. I can understand their pain. I’m still working on it, but I try not to be judging or make a snap conclusion about something because I know there is different side and different pain, different joy, different value that people experienced.People usually tell me I am an easy person to open up and I appreciate it very much. I take pride on myself. I think life and the connection you make in your life is what makes everyone unique and beautiful. I think I want to tell that through my story.
It wasn’t easy to come to where I am of course. Because I see so much more than other people, and I usually don’t show it, it takes other people to understand me and emphasise with me. This lead me to not trust people that easily, block myself from others. I usually don’t like to show myself, I think there is not a single person who I fully expressed myself other than my family but even sometimes they struggle to understand me. Some soul reader, once told me that I am an very very old soul that already have so much knowledge than any other soul around me and thats why I struggle to fit in. I think that taught me a lesson to adapt while maintaining who I am. Now, I am slowly opening up to other people, I am slowly expecting less people to understand me, it still a process but I am more happy and stable than ever finding out who I want to be moving forward. I think thats another aspect of life that I want to explore by filmmaking.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am an animal lover, so the No.1 spot that I will take people have to be the Georgia Aquarium. It is so much fun than people expect with a lot of stuff to explore. I once took my aunt who wasn’t in a big mood to go, was astonished and loved it. I think it is a great healing spot for people especially in a busy city like Atlanta, just exploring and watching animals. If it is in season, I would also love to go to Braves game too. Baseball games are always fun to watch and we will have a good time. I would also take my friend to a good ramen places. There are some great ramen places around midtown that I love including E Ramen+ and Okiboru. If they want some taste from the South, might as well we go to Chick-Fil-A or Waffle House for a breakfast. That is another experience that I would do it with my friend.

Lastly, I will definitely show around SCAD campus. As a student, I am biased but it is a unique university different from any other college with museum to explore and fun friends that I want people to meet!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to say every single person that I appeared in my life. I would not be who I am right now without the experience I went throughout my 20 years so far. Weather it is painful, happy, frustrating, sad, every moment was a learning and new perspective that brought me to a great milestones in my life.

However, if I had to pick a specific group of people, my family deserves everything. Their support, belief, love and even their harsh honesty is always an element that encourages me to keep going and do what I want to do. With their comfort that they always provide me, I know I have a safe place that allows me to make a mistake, but get right back again with more knowledge and confidence. I cannot express how much I am grateful and proud to be part of this family. I love them all!

Instagram: @sukocam

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sukocam

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sukocam/videos

Image Credits
Maya Nayak
Jay Lagrandeur
Kurt Stoffer