Sergei Fedorov齋藤聖司

"Not to intrude on a space, but to notice how things arrange themselves within it and compose that into a frame."

I am Sergei Fedorov, a documentary cinematographer. My life and work are split between Yokohama and Moscow, and I have long worked in observational documentary.

I was born in Japan but began my career in Russia after graduating from the cinematography department at VGIK. During my studies I focused on documentary film, which became my main specialty.

In 2020 I released my first feature documentary as a director. Around the same time I began working with leading ballet companies, mainly The Tokyo Ballet and the Bolshoi Theatre. I also founded my own small production house, Japan Pas de Deux (JPD), which I still run today. In Japan I go by the Japanese version of my name, Seiji Saito.

In 2021 I shot my second feature, about the making of The Nutcracker in Tokyo, and took part in many theatre festivals across Japan.

By 2025 I had moved into fashion documentary, shooting a series for the brand Akitsu. Around the same time I joined the crews of large Russian projects as a second-unit cinematographer, working on the third season of Delicate Taste for Kinopoisk and the film I Didn't Get into Hogwarts.

Today I keep working in both Japan and Russia. I stay true to documentary. What matters to me is finding beauty in details and building a story out of living material. I try not to intrude on a space, but to notice how things arrange themselves within it and to compose that into a frame.