Sybilla Patrizia is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and photographer from Austria, based in Tokyo.
In her work, she merges her passion for social impact and human stories with her background in fashion to create thought-provoking stories that cross the border between documentary, art and design.
Her short film ‘A Color I Named Blue’ about two Japanese indigo dyers premiered in competition at Sheffield DocFest, Palm Springs, and DOC NYC where it received the special mention in 2025. The film also premiered at the Barbican’s film season in 2026.
Sybilla filmed VICE’s ‘The Dark Side of Manga’ which won a News&Documentary Emmy in 2023. She also served as Japan Unit Director on ‘Our New World’, a feature documentary about communities around the world adapting to climate change, featuring Japan’s Ama free divers and their fight to save disappearing seaweed beds. ‘A Bloody Taboo’ about our stigma against menstruation premiered at Ji.Hlava and Tokyo Docs in 2021. ‘Toma Unrestored’ about a couple who revives a forgotten Japanese priest house into an art space in Nara, premiered on NOWNESS in 2025.
シビラ・パトリチア（Sybilla Patrizia）は、オーストリア出身で東京を拠点に活動する、エミー賞受賞歴を持つ映画監督・写真家である。
社会的テーマと人間の物語を、ファッションのバックグラウンドを活かした独自の美的視点によって結びつける、アーティスティックなアプローチを特徴とする。その作品は、ドキュメンタリー、アート、デザインの領域を軽やかに横断しながら、観る者に深い思考を促すストーリーを描き出す。
日本の藍建て職人を追った短編ドキュメンタリー『色をこえて青を見る』（2025）は、Sheffield DocFest、Palm Springsで正式上映され、DOC NYCにて特別賞を受賞。2026年にはロンドンのバルビカン・センターの映画シーズンでもプレミア上映された。
VICE News の『The Dark Side of Manga』で2023年にエミー賞を受賞。短編ドキュメンタリー『Toma Unrestored』（2025）は NOWNESS にてプレミア公開され、高い評価を得ている。また、気候変動に適応する世界のコミュニティを描く長編ドキュメンタリー『Our New World』では日本ユニットの監督を務め、消えゆく海藻を守ろうとする海女たちの姿を取材・撮影した。
シビラの作品は、BBC、VICE、NHK、Financial Times、adidasなど国内外の多様な媒体で広く公開されている。
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Sybilla is also the founder of WHEN IN TOKYO
— a dedicated online guide to Tokyo’s best art, design and architecture.
www.whenin.tokyo
@whenin.tokyo
Contact
studio[at]sybillapatrizia.com
Instagram @sybillapatrizia
Clients | Publications
BBC | VICE | NOWNESS | Financial Times | adidas | MLB | Amazon Prime | France TV | NHK | Showtime | AnOther Magazine | Condé Nast Traveler | IKEA | LUMINE | HERMÈS Social Good Book | EATER | Nikkei Asia | Yahoo! | Ö1 Radio | Süddeutsche Zeitung | The Sunday Telegraph | Tokyo Weekender | SLEEK Magazine | Suitcase Magazine | Schön! Magazine | Teeth Magazine | Le Mile Magazine
Festivals | Awards | Exhibitions
2026, Barbican London, ‘The Old Ways’ film season, A Color I Named Blue
2025, DOC NYC, Shorts Competition Special Mention
2025, Sapporo Intl Short Film Festival, Best National Short Award
2025, Sheffield DocFest, International Short Film Competition
2025, Palm Springs ShortFest, Documentary Short Competition
2024, Sunny Side of the Doc, Best Arts&Culture Pitch
2023, Emmy Award, 44th News and Documentary Emmy Awards
2023, Tokyo Docs, Best Pitch Award, Sunny Side of the Doc Award, DocedgeKolkata Award, The Shape of Blue
2023, Front Page Award, Newswomen’s Club of New York, Specialized Reporting in Arts
2023, Los Angeles Press Club Nomination, 16th National A&E Journalism Awards
2021, Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic, A Bloody Taboo
2021, Japan Film Festival Los Angeles, USA, A Bloody Taboo (Senses of Women Award)
2020, Ars Electronica Festival, Austria, curator of #JapanRevisited202x
Speaker
University of Tokyo
University of Salford
Japan Information & Culture Center, Washington DC
Young One World Peace-preneur Forum Nagasaki
Tokyo Docs
Education
Tokyo University of the Arts
東京藝術大学
MA Film Production
Japanese Government Scholar (MEXT)
University of Westminster, London
BA Contemporary Media Practice (Photography/Video)
Academy of Visual Arts,
Hong Kong Baptist University
Exchange Semester
Images on this website may not be reproduced without permission.