Black Box Diaries 16DLNSPV

Name: Black Box Diaries
Director: Shiori Itō
Released: 2024
Duration: 102

Journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s outdated judicial and societal systems.

V&A Waterfront Tickets The ZONE @ Rosebank Tickets

Awards

CPH:DOX (2024) – Winner: HUMAN:RIGHTS

Hong Kong International Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Golden Firebird Award: Documentary

Miami Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Knight Documentary Achievement Award: Best Documentary

San Francisco International Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Golden Gate Award: Best Documentary Feature

San Francisco International Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Special Jury Award: Best Documentary Feature

Seattle International Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Golden Space Needle Award: Best Documentary (2nd place)

Seattle International Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision Shiori Ito

Seattle International Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Golden Space Needle Award: Best Director (4th place)

Sundance Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Grand Jury Prize World Cinema: Documentary

SXSW Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Audience Award: Festival Favorites

16DLNSPV Feature International
African Premiere SA Premiere

Award Winning

Screenings – CT

Ster-Kinekor V&A 7 Tue 25 June 7.30pm

Screenings – JHB

The Zone @ Rosebank 3 Thu 27 June 8.30pm

Director(s):

Shiori Itō

Country:

Japan | USA | UK

Year:

2024

Duration:

102 min

Language(s):

Japanese with English subtitles

RATING:

16DLNSPV

Black-Box-Diaries_poster_portrait Poster — Film Poster

When young Japanese journalist Shiori Itō fails to get the police to investigate and prosecute her charge of sexual assault against a politically connected bureau chief, she takes it upon herself to arrange a press conference—and then proceeds to do the investigation herself, including all of the forensic work, documented mostly on her cellphone camera, and releasing the results as a published book and film. Black Box Diaries is a raw, riveting, and singular film, that plays like a procedural thriller for the social media age, although it is not just the alleged perpetrator being investigated but the whole Japanese political and justice system. Itō’s investigative and media work around her case shook the foundations of Japanese society, and her film offers powerful inspiration for those elsewhere in the world who find themselves victims of unfair systems, presenting agency, bravery, and determination as the most powerful weapons we have as individuals, particularly in our newly digital reality.