Matthew Hashiguchi's Journey to Documentary Filmmaking Fame

By: Jordyn Mobley

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Like any other school day, Matthew Hashiguchi raced through Sanford's halls, pulling a wagon full of equipment behind him. He walked purposefully as he got to the classroom where students waited for their next lesson. He planned to teach his audio class about building a world where listeners can imagine a scene by sound alone. With a stoic expression, he entered the room and walked to the front to begin his lesson. His students listened intently, eager to pick his brain because he was a professional, actively working in the film industry while teaching at the same time. He was admired by his students, but Hashiguchi’s journey as an award-winning documentary filmmaker and professor did not happen overnight.

There are various genres of film, whether that is action or drama. Many directors choose to stray away from documentary filmmaking because of the amount of extra effort that goes into producing these films. There are many loopholes that documentary filmmakers have to go through with liability and consent to share someone else’s story. Although documentaries inherently cause more work, something drew Hashiguchi to this specific type of filmmaking. 

“I just wanted to learn about people and experience life through the lenses of others,” said Hashiguchi.

Matthew Hashiguchi

Before starting at Georgia Southern, Hashiguchi was looking for a job that would allow him to work while simultaneously teaching. Because of his wishes, he found Georgia Southern and believed it would be the best fit for him. 

“I wanted to be able to conduct research for future projects, while also having a stable teaching job,” said Hashiguchi. “Georgia Southern offered me an opportunity to do that.”

He had no ties to Georgia at all. He taught for a couple of years at his Alma Mater, Emerson College, before doing freelance work and producing a documentary called “Good Luck Soup.” This specific documentary was a feature story about his grandmother who lived during the time of the Vietnam War. Hashiguchi wanted to create that specific documentary to share his family's unique story about their ancestry. His identity is a driving force for some of the films that he chooses to create. 

“He is constantly looking at societal problems and not only how they impact his family, but the community around him,” said his colleague at Georgia Southern, Abbey Hoekzema.

His passion for storytelling and shedding light on narratives that are overlooked is what led him to create his award-winning documentary, “The Only Doctor.”

“The Only Doctor” focused on a woman named Karen Kinsell, who was the only doctor in all of Clay County, Georgia. Clay County is a poor community, but also one of the unhealthiest regions in the state. Hashiguchi and his team began to produce the film during COVID-19, a time when healthcare was a pivotal need. He realized that Kinsell’s story needed to be shared because she was doing so much on her own. 

“She was in a very remote part of Georgia, and I remember calling her one day and asking her if I could come and film,” said Hashiguchi. “She said as long as patients were okay with it, and I went and filmed and then just kept going back.”

There were many challenges with producing the film. For starters, Hashiguchi’s team had to receive grants to be able to finish the film. Additionally, many of Kinsell’s patients were uncomfortable with being filmed. He had to work around that. But that wasn’t even the hardest part. 

“The hardest part about producing “The Only Doctor” was finding a network to stream it after finishing the production,” said Hashiguchi. 

Luckily, Hashiguchi had friends that he had worked with previously on various projects, who worked for the PBS network. Because of his connections, he was able to receive a deal with PBS Reel where the network streamed his documentary.

Many of Hashiguchi’s students look up to him because of all of the amazing things that he has accomplished. 

“He’s always been a light to all of his students and an inspiration,” said his current student, Shaniya Anderson. “If you have questions about anything, he answers them thoroughly, and he makes things easy to understand.”

Since film professors can teach and create their own projects as well, many of them bounce ideas off of each other. Hashiguchi and Hoekzema have worked closely together for many of their projects. 

“He’s come and done sound work for some of my projects, and I’ve helped do an interview shoot for one of his pieces,” said Hoekzema. “He’s helped me out a lot with the feedback that he has given me for my work.”

As of right now, Hashiguchi is working on finding his next project to tackle. With the success of “The Only Doctor,” Hashiguchi hopes to continue to make films that mean something to him. 

“I tell my students that there is not a lot of money in documentary filmmaking and you really have to love what you do,” said Hashiguchi. “I just want to continue to learn more about people and document that for others.”