Film Forum

In 2017, Japanese journalist Shiori Itō publicly accused a prominent media executive (and associate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) of rape, and published a bestselling memoir detailing her case — Black Box, a book credited with sparking the #MeToo movement in Japan. BLACK BOX DIARIES is a survivor’s real-time investigation of her own sexual assault — and includes raw video diaries (shot on Itō’s iPhone), surreptitious audio recordings of police negligence, and vérité courtroom footage. Itō documents her courageous struggle to navigate Japan’s patriarchal judiciary and antiquated sex crimes laws (proven lack of consent was insufficient) and quest for justice.

Presented with support from The Richard Brick, Geri Ashur, and Sara Bershtel Fund for Social Justice Documentaries and the Reginald S. Reinhardt, Ling-Makekau Fund for Asia-Pacific Films

2024     103 MIN.     JAPAN / USA / UK     MTV DOCUMENTARY FILMS
IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Reviews

“A stunning, effective tale of reclaiming victimhood…Itō shows us all that it is possible to survive something that feels insurmountable, and we should be grateful for her towering example.”
– Lex Briscuso, The Wrap

“A pulverizing illustration of truth and its consequences…[an] appealing and very-now mix of forensic journalism with the high-and-lows of instant iPhone reactions and emotions…One of the discoveries of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.”
– Fionnuala Halligan, Screen

“We’ve seen many #MeToo-themed documentaries at Sundance, but not one quite like Japanese journalist Shiori Itō’s fearless, deeply personal procedural. BLACK BOX DIARIES is a generous, courageous, and ultimately hopeful film end to end, cementing Itō —named by TIME as one of the world’s most influential people in 2020—as a significant new voice.”
– Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar

“Itō details her own quest for justice from an intimate, personal perspective that ensures her humanity is always at the very center of the frame… As this cinematic black box attests, that she went on this journey and sparked a movement toward legal and cultural change in her native Japan will hopefully mean that no one else will have to do the same.”
– Ross McIndoe, Slant

“REMARKABLE. A tightly wound, heart-on-sleeve procedural documentary, Shiori Itō’s directorial debut identifies a world of systemic iniquities through the prism of a single, long labored-over case of sexual assault — crucially, the director’s own. That raw first-person perspective, untempered by the interests of another filmmaker and given narrative rigor by Itō’s substantial journalistic skills, makes BLACK BOX DIARIES not just a damning analysis of patriarchal power structures in contemporary Japan, but a vivid evocation of the day-to-day psychological swings and breaks that come with living as a survivor.”
– Guy Lodge, Variety