Sarasa Kikuchi is a Tokyo-born director, cinematographer, and multimedia artist based in Boston. Working across narrative, documentary, experimental film, and installation, her practice blends poetic visual language with social and emotional inquiry. With a background in cultural anthropology, she approaches image-making as an act of careful observation, attentive to what unfolds in silence, gesture, and space.
Blending observational realism with a restrained, lyrical sensibility, Sarasa explores quiet emotional landscapes shaped by migration, family, and social expectation. Her work is drawn to moments where guilt, obligation, and longing coexist beneath silence, subtly revealed through framing, duration, and spatial relationships rather than explicit narrative.
As a cinematographer, Sarasa is known for her naturalistic lighting, precise composition, and use of texture to evoke interior states. Her sensorial approach to cinematography makes her a frequent collaborator on character-driven stories. She has served as director of photography on over twenty independent short films, documentaries, and music videos that have screened at festivals internationally.
Currently pursuing her MFA in Film and Media Art at Emerson College. Expanding beyond the screen, her recent work investigates immersive video installation as a way to construct cinematic spaces that invite contemplation, dialogue, and shared human understanding.
Director
13 Hours Ahead (2025) Multi Channel Video Installation | Extend Family Productions
Pendulum (2025) Experimental Virtual Production
Maigo (2024) Narrative Short
Hal (2023) Documentary
Chelsea (2023) Documentary
もうやめようと思う (2021) Narrative Short
Director of Photography
Join The Table (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Vaishnavi Bhimani
Taste of Home (2025) Documentary | Dir.Fadime Icin
House of Fun (2025) Music Video | Artist TalkChalk | Extend Family Productions | Dir.Emma Angen Rose
The Absence of Joy (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Karen McKeen
No Service (2025) Narrative Short | Keen Production | Dir.Karen McKeen
Ours (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Vanessa Bazile
Rain Falls Like Us (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Yiwei Xie
Warm Blooded (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Emma Angen Rose
Manic Pixie Dreams (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Trinity Hodges
Search Party (2024) Narrative Short | Dir. Omer Yilmaz
Afterwords (2024) Narrative Short | Keen Production | Dir.Karen McKeen | Official Selection: Montreal Women’s Film Festival
Scorcher (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Emma Angen Rose
Divergent Dreams (2024) Hybrid Documentary | Dir.Barbara Wheeler
Beep Test (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Nina Zehri | Official Selection, Tasveer Film Festival
Parrot (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Emma Angen Rose
GOLD (2023) Narrative Short | Dir.Meenakshi Garodia
Moving On (2023) Narrative Short | Dir.Tyron Pierce
Benny Goes Method (2023) Narrative Short | Dir. Sam Permar, Nina Zehri | Audience Award Another Hole in the Head, Honorable Mention (Best Dark Comedy Short), IndieX Film Fest & Indie Short Fest
Clown (2023) Music Video
Chemistry of Coffee (2023) Documentary | Dir.Stella Wilkins
Camera Operator
Daughter Unfolding (2025) Documentary | Dir.Maja Giguere
The Unknown (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Noelle Leslie-Morgan
Darvesh (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Nina Zehri
Taste of Meat (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Minyu Chen
Swimmer (2025) Documentary | Dir.Sara Jordeno
Third (2025) Narrative Short | Extend Family Productions | Dir. Sam Permar
The Magician (2025) Narrative Short | Pronoia Entertainment | Dir. Juan Gracia
100 Foot Waves (Season 3, 2024) Documentary Series | HBO
Self Cocooned/Andhkaar (2024) Music Video | Dir.Tushar Gidwani
Tittar Bittar (2024) Music Video | Dir.Muhammad Zayan Agha
Assistant Camera
8 minutes (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.David Lehr
Circle of The Moon (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Annie Acker
Hellogreen (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Muhammad Zayan Agha
Jam Boy (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Sriram Emani
I See You (2025) Narrative Short | Dir. Lucian Wood
Fight Back (2023) Narrative Short Street View Pictures| Dir.Jay Street
Gaffer
Best Interest of a child (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Ian Hawkins
Metah (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Meenakshi Garodia
Poshun (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Meenakshi Garodia
Tick (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Sam Permar
Awakening (2024) Experimental Films | Dir.Katherine Landry
A Globstar (2023) Narrative Short | Dir.Charles Bruin
Free Car (2023) Narrative Short | Dir.Alex Rubinic
Sister, Deliverer (2023) Narrative short | Dir.Emma Angen Rose
L0770 Money (2023) Narrative short | Pronoia Entertainment | Dir. Juan Gracia
Producer
See What I Mean (2025) Narrative Short | Dir.Brian Chander
Hayim (2024) Narrative Short | Dir.Joel Familier
Animator
Lola (2024) Hybrid Documentary | Dir.Carlo Ang